


Seven Seas of Rhye

by hiraeth_chan



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama & Romance, Drug Dealing, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Minor Kaya/Usopp, Minor Sabo/Koala, Multi, OOC, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, Social Media, Teenage Drama, crocodile is a bitch, doffy is one too, gol d roger is the new kurt cobain, loads of drama and conflict, many more are coming later in the story, mentions of eustass/nami, minor ace/vivi, minor franky/iceburg, new marineford high school, only main ships are listed above, setting: new world | grand line city, they're all like filthy rich
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:47:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 192,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27510076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiraeth_chan/pseuds/hiraeth_chan
Summary: As the new transfer student in a prestigious school, Nico Robin wishes for nothing but a quiet senior year and, with some luck, maybe a friend or two. Little does she know, her life changes forever when she crosses paths with the Straw-Hats, especially their green-haired swordsman. Sometimes you must learn tolet go, others how togive in.  All it really takes is a leap of faith.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Nami/Vinsmoke Sanji, Nico Robin/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 131
Kudos: 134





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own One Piece. Anything you may recognize belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Nico Robin transfers to New Marineford and meets the Straw-Hats, Zoro is horny, Luffy has a big heart and Vivi learns that the path towards healing, sometimes, goes through forgiveness.

The dream is _sweet_ , comforting, in bright watercolors – the woman in it perhaps a little out of his league, decidedly more beautiful than the girls he goes to school with, but _goddammit_ hasn’t he been _horny_ lately, a stranger in his own body, and her skin feels _so soft_ beneath his fingertips…   
  
“ _Wake up_ , _dumbass_ ”.  
  
The sheets are stuck unpleasantly to his chest and the pillow under his head is damp, he can feel the small trickles of sweat as they glide on the sides of his face and down the back of his ears. However, what forces Zoro to pry his eyes open is his sister's voice, a high-pitched, nagging sound through which even an expert sleeper as himself can’t enjoy his slumber.  
  
“You’re going to be late on your first day”.  
  
He looks up, taking in the ruffled pink pigtails and oversized pajama she’s sporting. _Witch_ is lucky she won’t be getting started with university for another month. “Get out of my way, Perona”.  
  
“Just get ready and let Kumashi drop you at school”, she sighs, wiggling her eyebrows at the clock hanging on the wall behind his head. “You don’t have time to get _lost_ today”.  
  
Then she is out in a contemptuous giggle, and Zoro immediately dashes out of his bed. He checks the clock. _Seven a.m_. He spends in the shower no more than twenty minutes, shampooing his green hair with energy, as if to stop the _goddess'_ image from disturbing him during the day, then prepares his backpack and walks out of the house at an acceptable ten to eight.  
  
He greets Kumashi with a curt nod, stepping inside the black, anonymous car. If the traffic isn’t too overwhelming in the city today, it shouldn’t take them longer than fifteen minutes to get to the school, but Perona’s driver is an authentic _snail_ , and he regrets not taking his motorcycle more and more with every stop at which he lets _anybody_ and _their grandmothers_ surpass him. Luckily for him, New Marineford puts many facilities at the students’ disposal, including a small café right by the entrance, where they can stop by and eat breakfast before class.  
  
Eventually the two reach the school, where he plans to buy himself some coffee and wait for the others.  
  
At the beginning of each year, he and his friends meet at Makino’s, it’s been a tradition for four years straight at this point. Zoro is utterly surprised when he realizes he’s been the first to arrive, occupying the spot at the end of the waiting line and checking his telephone for messages as he waits.  
  
He then goes on to check his e-mails and see if the official date for the kendo championship tryouts is out. He has one chance and one chance only to snatch his father’s record as the _youngest swordsman_ to win the title, but sadly the committee is still taking its sweet time deciding on a time and place. _Tsk_.  
  
A hand taps gently on his right shoulder. “Excuse me?”  
  
Zoro turns around, and his eyes converge on a thin, slightly uplifted nose, above which round, blue eyes look at him in concern shadowed by thick, raven lashes. She wears the same blazer he does, with the same crest. “ _Yes_?”, he deadpans.  
  
“It’s your turn”, the girl replies, gesturing for the check out. As he turns around once more, he notices the lady behind it does _not_ look pleased. “ _Sorry,_ Makino”, he smiles, sheepishly.  
  
“Black with no sugar, right?”, the woman grins back, reverting to her usual cheerful demeanor.  
  
“Thank you”. He looks back at the stranger. “ _So_ , you’re a senior, too, _uh_?”  
  
 _So smooth, Zoro, so smooth_. He is lucky his friends aren’t here ( _yet_ ), or he would never hear the end of it. Such a _pathetic_ display, and the inability to have a proper conversation with a girl, is _Sanji_ ’s prerogative.  
  
“That I am”, she replies, a hint of humor in her voice he can’t quite understand, eyes lingering on the symbol on his chest. “I’ve heard great things about New Marineford, I hope it will live up to its reputation”.  
  
Not knowing what to say, Zoro grabs the fuming take-away cup Makino has placed on the counter for him and gives the woman his card. His bill is paid one quick swipe later, and he says goodbye to the woman before he returns his attention to his schoolmate. Only the children of the wealthiest families in the country can afford the prime education the school offers, hence the small number of people who make up the student body. _Everybody knows each other_ and it is one of the main reasons he and his group try to steer away from gossip, but he is pretty sure he’s never seen the raven-haired girl in magazines before, not that he pays them much attention, anyway. _Who is she_? His curiosity is going to be satisfied, _though_. Sooner or later, one of Nami’s birds will whisper anything there is to know about the new girl in her ear, and she, like the good friend she ( _sometimes_ ) is, will share the interesting bits with the rest of the crew.  
  
“I'm sure it will". Zoro gives her a small smile and aims straight for the door. "I’ll see you around, then”.  
  
He can see Luffy’s jet-black hair peeking out from behind the café’s window.  
  
“ _Goodbye_ ”.

* * *

“ _God,_ Zoro, _finally_ ”, she exhales as a familiar patch of green hair comes out of the shop’s door. Nami glances down at her smartphone once more, feigning impatience. “We’re going to be late”.  
  
The rest of the group is there already, eager to be done with the five-minutes-walk that connects their current location to the building where their classes take place.  
  
She knows the first day commends they get caught up on each other’s lives and share tales and anecdotes from their summer vacations, but she'll be _damned_ if she lets Kaya’s boyfriend launch into one of his _over-complicated_ and _over-exaggerated_ stories before they are well on their way to class. Not that she doesn’t like Usopp, she just hates being _late_ , and knows she’ll need perfect records if she wants to be picked as valedictorian. To say the competition is vicious would be an understatement. That _shit_ looks great on college applications.   
  
“We were lounging on the beach, _y’a know_? Then out of the blue this surf champion approaches me, saying they need one more competitor to reassign the title and demands someone with such a great body as myself fills in for the spot…” Nami looks at her blonde friend, whose amused giggle counterfeits her boyfriend’s narration, and shakes her head. “… _Needless to say_ , you’re talking to the new champ-”  
  
Everyone has stopped listening by this point, and it is Luffy’s turn to share. “Grandpa was away for most of the holidays, so it was just me, my brothers and _Dadan_ ”, he says. “Except from when she banned us from playing soccer in the sitting room, it was a great summer”. He crosses his arm behind his head, erupting in his distinctive, slightly childish laughter. “ _Shishishishi_!”  
  
“Besides from the cruise with Usopp two weeks ago, my parents took me on an extended vacation to Raftel at the beginning of the summer. What people say is true. It really is _paradise_ on earth”, Kaya interjects.  
  
“You should come to Alabasta next time”, chimes in the blue-haired girl walking on Nami’s right side, Vivi. Although her offer sounds more like a frustrated attempt to establish the superiority of the country her father rules, it is still met positively by her friend. “If you can stand the _heat_ , that is. You can stay at the castle”.  
  
“Is there any space left for me, _Vivi-chwan_?”  
  
Sanji’s call for attention is not unexpected, but still quite a little bit annoying for the people who’ve been exposed to his doormat tendencies for any extended period of time.  
  
Franky grabs him by the neck of his shirt and jerks him back, knowing the princess wouldn’t appreciate his distorted ideas of _chivalry_ so early in the morning, and stops any potential retort with one stern look. The fact he is quite tall, over seven feet, decidedly helps when he needs to calm down his otherwise boisterous friend, or his green-haired, _orientationally challenged_ counterpart for that matter.  
  
Zoro tags at the back of the group with Chopper, the only sixteen years old in the crew. As a _prodigy_ scholar, he’s been allowed to skip some years and graduate from high school earlier. Despite the age gap, he is still one of the top students in their class.   
  
Eventually, they all reach the top of the small hill. Their classroom is located inside of a building of rectangular shape, a mixture of dark bricks and ethereal marble. A long row of stairs leads to the entrance, and immediately they are either greeted or frowned upon by many different people, all of them wearing the same uniform they sport. The bell, however, is not a merciful entity, and its first ring forces people to rush inside. Students and professors alike climb hastily up the stairs and disappear inside the entrance hall, where the group splits in two: Usopp and Franky greet the others before they blend into the crowd and disappear, while the others slowly but steadily start making their way towards their own classroom.  
  
This year, they’re on the third floor. Nami patiently navigates them through the busy hallways, stopping from time to time to exchange pleasantries with her many acquaintances, but still managing to get the whole group to destination before the ring of the final bell. She sits down in her usual spot, with Vivi and Kaya on her side and the rest of the crew scattered in the neat lines of tables around them.  
  
Chopper leans in from his seat in front her to whisper in her ear. “There’s a spare seat”, he observes.  
  
“I wonder what that is about”, she replies, absent-mindedly, but she has no time for further inquiries as the professor finally arrives and slams the door behind his back.  
  
Sakazuki is stricter than most of his colleagues, _self-important_ and prone to anger; he’s known to verbally abuse his students when in a bad mood, so, _practically,_ the whole _fucking_ time, and over the last two years, having been appointed vice-principal, the dreaded physics professor has only gotten worse. At least, _before_ the promotion, he had to pretend in front of his equals, but now he treats even _them_ as if they’re an insignificant speckle of dirt stuck under his expensive, handmade shoes.  
  
The first two hours of school drag on, slow and tedious, as Sakazuki – or Akainu, _red dog_ , as his students call him – immediately starts teaching his class, going over the topics they’ll cover in the course of the year. He doesn’t ask them how they spent the summer, as any sensible teacher would do, nor does he mention what he has been up to in the past few months.  
  
 _Probably coming up with new ideas to torture us_ , Nami muses.  
  
Luckily for her, even bad things _ought_ to come to an end, and eventually the man leaves the classroom, briefcase in tow, to be soon substituted by someone who is, on the contrary, one of the students’ favorite professors: it’s Brook, the music teacher, an old man with a bizarre hairstyle and the weirdest outfits.  
  
For the beginning of the new school year he’s opted for a purple suit whose jacket has shiny, beaded lapels, with a black shirt underneath, but what really catches his pupils’ attention, for a change, is not his odd appearance, but rather the tall, raven-haired girl who’s standing right next to him. “This here is Nico Robin. She’ll be part of this class for the rest of the year”, he announces.  
  
There’s a dry _thud_ on Nami’s right. Vivi’s face is strangely flushed. “ _Oh. My. God_ ”.

* * *

The music lecture goes much better than the physics' one, but Sanji is still incredibly tired by the time they enter the cafeteria for lunch, a little after noon. His body will need some time adjusting to the winter schedule, especially after an entire summer of cooking and serving dishes until two a.m. and going to bed much, much later.  
  
What New Marineford offers which the _Baratie_ lacks, however, is the _lovely_ presence of his _girl_ -friends, in particular _Nami-swan_ , and it appears there’s a new addition this year to the school’s collection of _beauties_ , too. He better hurry and show the _poor, neglected lady_ her way around the campus, since everyone seems too busy making up theories on her identity to welcome her properly.  
  
“It’s not common for transfer students to be accepted here”, Kaya notes when they sit down, their trays filled with food. Chopper has been an important exception to a very long tradition just one year ago. “But I’m sure the board wouldn’t accept her request if they thought she doesn’t fit in”. There is no malice in her voice, she is always ready to make new friends, but the cool demeanor of the new girl is chilling, just a little, and like every rich person worthy of that name, heiress to the biggest pharmaceutical empire of the East Blue, she is wary of people whose _net-worth_ she ignores.  
  
 _Just who is this Nico Robin, really_?  
  
Vinsmoke Sanji is wondering the same, albeit for different reasons. Germa is somehow a secluded country, so it’s possible her name is unknown there, but to afford the school’s yearly tuition she ought to be extremely rich. It’s kind of weird that no one here at New Marineford seems to have never heard about her. Except Vivi, it appears, but she’s been strangely tight-lipped about it, and he knows better than to press a lady for information. Luffy, however, ignores the rules of common chivalry - if anything, he stomps on them at any chance he gets.  
  
“ _Where did you meet_?” The dark-haired boy is too perceptive for his own good sometimes, in a way that embarrasses other people. The worst part is, he doesn’t even realize it. “You and the new girl, I mean”.  
  
Sanji feels sorry for him, expecting Nami to blow up on him any second now and looking _drop dead gorgeous_ whilst doing so, but the girl remains quiet, and eyes the Alabastan princess strangely, instead. _Information is power and Nami-swan certainly is greedy_ – but he _loves_ that about her.  
  
“ _Uh_?”, the moss-head comments, stupidly. The chef wonders why he even bothers trying to talk. It’s clear by now that he’s all muscle and _no brains_ , although one could argue he has excellent grades, even higher than him in some subjects. It’s just that their rivalry is something he takes very seriously, because it pushes him to do and be _better_ , plus antagonizing Zoro just feels too _natural_ , and he has too much fun riling the stupid _marimo_ up.  
  
“ _She_ \- She’s from _Ohara_ , in the West Blue”, Vivi says after a while. “She used to be friends with… _Crocodile_ ”.  
  
The whole table freezes upon hearing the guy’s name. Unfortunately, they all know how hard it is for their friend to speak of anything even remotely related to him. He’s a genuine monster.  
  
“She doesn’t look _evil_ ”, Luffy objects, eyes roaming in the distance, across the other side of the cafeteria. “There she is. She seems… _lonely_ ”.  
  
 _So that’s what this is about_ , Sanji thinks. _His pathological belief that anyone needs friends_. Not that he’s entirely wrong. His friends have been fundamental for Sanji to develop into a _semi-functional_ human being despite Judge’s terrible parenting. He’s sure the new girl could do with some support as well. She does look lonely, standing by herself as she tries to balance her tray and searching for somewhere to seat. People pretend they don’t see her, and she doesn’t seem keen on sitting next to complete strangers.  
  
“I think Eustass has his eyes on her already”, Nami practically growls, glaring daggers at her first (and probably _last_ ) boyfriend. They’ve been broken up for over a year, but he still makes her blood boil. _In a bad way_ , of course. “I don’t like it”.  
  
“Your ex’s a _pig_ , everyone knows that”, chimes in Usopp, joining them at the table and pecking Kaya on the lips. Franky arrives moments later. “He was talking about her this morning, but it seems not even _he_ has access to the information Franky and _I_ , on the contrary, have gotten our hands on”.  
  
“Her mother was a famous archaeologist, and our new schoolmate Nico Robin is the sole heiress of one of the largest estates in the West Blue. It’s like someone made a conscious effort to hide her from public records, but it seems she spent the last two years in Alabasta, where she attended the Institute”.   
  
“Your information is correct”, Vivi nods, sharply. “ _She_ ’s the only reason I managed to escape last year”.  
  
She is referring to the night Crocodile, whom over the years developed a weird obsession for her, tried to kidnap her, possibly to ask King Cobra for a ransom, and drag the kingdom into bankruptcy. He’s the son of a noble who's in turn the leader of a small political opposition, and later that fateful night the princess called Nami in the middle of the night, sobbing and detailing her escape from the slippery man. His family has too many connections to go to jail, but last they’ve heard they moved out of the country, publicly disgraced.  
  
“Should we ask her to join us?”, asks Chopper.  
  
He’s been the transfer student last year, the one who didn't know where to sit for lunch, so he _feel_ s for her, but at the same time he doesn’t want to upset his friend.  
  
“I think it’s a great idea, Chopper”, the princess replies. “I suspect she’d rather have a quiet year”.  
  
“Then maybe we should let her be, instead”, Nami retorts. “It’s never _quiet_ around here”. But Sanji, Vivi and Chopper do not hear her, because they are already out of their seats, making their way towards the raven-haired girl. Luffy would have gone, too, but the meat in his plate requires his full attention.

* * *

“… _Would you like to sit with us_?”  
  
Robin blinks one, two times, startled by the stranger’s request. There’s three people standing in front of her now. Vivi, whom she knows, a short boy with a sweet smile who looks much younger than the other seniors and seated next to her in class, and a guy with blond hair she remembers from some magazine. Like every other member of the student body, it’s safe to assume he’s rich and famous in some capacity. Her blue eyes focus on the only face she perceives as familiar, and she nibs at her lower lip.  
  
While she’d rather share a table with the Alabastan princess than unfamiliar strangers, her group of friends seems like a handful, _quite lively_ , and she’s not sure someone as... _quiet_ as her would fit in.  
  
She glances nervously at their table, where a dark-haired boy grins widely at her before gesturing for her to join in. _Monkey D. Luffy_ , the _President_ ’s son. _What an interesting character_.  
  
“I’d love to”, she accepts, grudgingly. Robin is not prepared for the hand that swiftly snatches her own, on top of which soft lips place a suave kiss.  
  
“Allow me introduce myself, _milady_ ”, Sanji bows down, deeply. She cringes. “I am Sanji, Vinsmoke Sanji”.  
  
 _Vinsmoke_ , _uh_? _Germa 66_ , then. She shivers. Not much is known of it to the outside world, but all of it is kind of... _bad_. As in repeated violations of human rights bad.  
  
“I’m Chopper”, the other boy offers her his hand. She shakes it. “It’s very nice to meet you”.  
  
“Come with us”, Vivi adds. She turns around and strolls towards the table, followed by her friends, so Robin finds herself closing the line. She can feel the eyes of the entire cafeteria on her back.  
  
“Guys, this is Robin”, the blue-haired princess announces when they get there. Her cheeks are suddenly _hot_. “Robin, this is Nami,” she gestures for the girl with orange hair, “Kaya”, the blonde one, “Usopp”, a long-nosed boy that smiles somewhat warmly at her, “Franky”, a very tall, large dude with a blue creast on top of his head, “Luffy”, the famous politician’s son, “And this is Zoro”, the green-haired boy from the café.  
  
He doesn’t mention they’ve met each other earlier today, so neither does she, shaking his hand in the same way she shakes anybody else’s, listening carefully and registering their names as they repeat them. Robin settles on the right side of the table, sandwiched between Vivi and the chatty blonde girl, thinking this is as good as a first day of school probably gets. She knows it’s only a matter of time before _rumors_ start spreading about her, following her from the desert, but she’s determined to enjoy such peace for as long as it lasts.  
  
Her past cannot be changed, or erased – her future, however, is _not_ written in stone. Funny how she has needed to hit her absolute lowest to realize it.  
  
“You’re lucky you’ve missed first period”, Nami says, eager to bring her into the loop. She’s always happy when there’s a new girl around, _the more the merrier_ , although Sanji can be quite a handful if she is pretty, which, unfortunately, happens to be the case this time. “Sakazuki doesn’t know the difference between _education_ and _torture_ ”.  
  
“Brook-san seems quite nice, on the other hand”, she replies. “It’s been years since I’ve played anything, though”.  
  
“Don’t worry, Robin”, Luffy grins. “Brook has never forced us to play”.  
  
“ _Yeah_. Every performance is on a voluntary basis”, Franky confirms. “The course’s here only because some wealthy patron donated enough money to run a music department. As long as you study the theorical part and pass the exams, you should be all settled with him”.  
  
“That’s a relief”, she smiles, although it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “What about the other professors? Are they _nice_? _Prepared_? _Strict_?”  
  
“If you study hard, you won’t have problems with Kizaru, although he’s a bit _old-fashioned_. He teaches literature, but he’s also the referent for the school’s paper, in case you would like to join”, Usopp chimes in. “Same goes for Kureha, the biology professor, but Caesar, he teaches chemistry, is very moody. Aokiji’s a _bastard_ , and his class has the highest failing rates in the whole school, but that man’s a _genius_ , so you will probably end up looking forward to his classes, unless you're desperately bad at math or something... Other than that, I wouldn’t angry Smoker over at HR-”  
  
“Aokiji? The famous mathematician?”, Robin inquires, feigning surprise. She’s curious to see what his students think of the man her mother used to date. “He teaches here?”  
  
“That’s correct”, Franky confirms. “They would have made him vice-principal instead of Akainu, if it weren’t for all the commitments he already has outside of the school”.  
  
“That’s a shame”, Sanji interjects. “But surely we don’t want to bore an _innocent lady_ out of her mind by talking-”  
  
“Shut up, _dart-brow_ ”, Zoro tilts his head up in challenge, cocking one brow at him. “ _She_ asked”.  
  
Robin can feel the tension rising, and would like to diffuse it, but she doesn’t know them well enough to know which buttons to push, so she opts for staring at the two as if they are disputing a tennis match, instead. “Come again, _moss-head?_ ”  
  
“Knock it off. _Both_ of you”, Nami glares at the pair. Zoro scoffs, while Sanji turns around and brings a hand to his heart, dramatically. “I apologize _, Nami-swan_!”  
  
Peace is restored, and Robin shifts her attention to something else. It seems there’s some _fun_ to be had at New Marineford.

* * *

When the first day of school finally ends and his friends bolt out of the classroom, eager to get home and _out_ of their uniforms, Luffy doesn’t mind it, because he knows they’ll meet up later.  
  
He secures his laptop inside his backpack, then makes sure he’s not forgetting his wallet at school _again_ , or else he’ll have to ask Nami to lend him some money, and he knows how that would end up: with a big, fat _bump_ on his head the moment he dares uttering a word against her _criminal_ interest rates.   
  
The dark-haired boy strolls down the hallways at a leisurely pace, he’s _not_ in a rush to get somewhere and, _per_ his own philosophy, _great adventures_ only happen to those brave enough to wait for them. He's very popular among his peers, _however_ , so around the school a multitude of people wave at him, stop him for a quick chat or to invite him to upcoming parties, and it takes him a whole twenty minutes to be out of the building, and on his way down the hill. Luffy doesn’t mind walking alone; as a matter of fact, he appreciates it.  
  
A cool breeze in the air, beautiful and vibrant colors all around him – there’s no way he would notice any of this if distracted by Nami’s pleasant chattering, or too busy fooling around with Usopp. His friend Zoro is not very talkative, but put him in the same room as Sanji, or Sanji in the same room as any girl, and silence is no longer an option. He never thought he would be the type of guy who gets _sentimental_ about his senior year, and the idea of _not_ coming back next year, but _here he is_ , nearly tearing up when at the end of his descent he turns around and glances up at the building.  
  
It towers over the hill and the rest of the campus with its lavish façade of dark bricks, stretching high towards the sky with its five stories. It’s been the stage of so many of his memories, some good and other bad, but all precious, nonetheless. Luffy shakes his head of jet-black hair and continues down the path, hands in his pockets, humming a happy tune. Sadness rarely lingers with him.  
 _  
There’s too much_ , he feels, _that_ _he should be happy about_.  
  
People keep staring and waving at him, delaying his return home even longer, but almost nobody is still hanging about by the time he reaches the parking lot, where the chauffeur already awaits him. As the son of President Dragon and Monkey D. Garp’s grandson, he is not allowed to go to school like most of his schoolmates do, _that is, with their own motorcycles and sports car_. _What a bummer_.  
  
However, it seems Zoro has been subjected to the same fate this year by his father, Dracule Mihawk, the famous investor, although in his case it’s not a matter of security, but rather a quick fix to his friend’s inability _not_ to get lost every morning on his way to school. Knowing he’s not alone cheers him up a little.  
  
Hachi is waiting for him outside the limo, whose door is already open, but Luffy stops in his tracks when he spots a familiar head of raven hair on the other side of the parking lot.  
  
The new girl ( _Robin_?) is seemingly waiting for someone to pick her up, and they’re clearly being late.  
  
“ _Oi,_ new girl!”, he shouts, waving wildly at her with a big grin. “Do you need a ride?”  
  
Her giggle is muted, but he still relishes in the sound. Luffy _loves_ making people laugh.  
  
“I’m fine, but thank you very much”, she says. “My ride home got stuck in the traffic, but he should be here soon”.  
  
As a matter of fact, a dark, convertible car pulls up in the parking lot no longer than ten minutes later, but he still decides, much to Hachi’s dismay, who has other errands to run, to keep her company. Even though he’s said nothing, he’s heard what Nami said at lunch. He won’t give the likes of Eustass Kid such an easy opportunity to bother her.  
  
“This was very nice of you”, she thanks him again before joining the man behind the steering wheel. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Luffy”.  
  
The engine rumbles, but his voice is louder. “ _Actually_ ”, he shouts, “Why don’t you join me and the others tonight? We’re going out for dinner-”  
  
Robin’s ride seems about to say something, but one look from the girl stops any objection.  
  
“Dinner you said?”, she asks. “I’d _love_ to”.   
  
“Here, type down your number”, Luffy smiles back, handing her his smartphone. “I’ll text you the details”.  
  
The convertible car disappears around the corner a minute later, so he finally returns his attention to the frustrated driver, who has opened the limo’s door once more.  
  
Hachi looks up expectantly at him. “ _Can we go now_ , _Mr_?”

* * *

Kaya is very surprised when her screensaver flashes to life, signaling the arrival of a new message when she is expecting none, and lounging in her bathtub with a nice book.  
  
What’s not surprising, however, is the name in bold, telling her which of her friends requires her attention. There’s only a finite number of people who could be texting her right now, either Usopp or the girls, and her e-mails have a different ringtone. Since she knows for a fact that her boyfriend is currently preoccupied with an online tournament of his favorite game, that leaves only Nami and Vivi. Most of her male friends rarely bother with texts, anyway, unless they need help preparing for their exams.

> **17:34** \- @ **catburglar**   
> _Look at the group chat_. 

Kaya is intrigued, and almost regrets silencing her chat with the whole crew. Things there can escalate very quickly, though, and make one’s phone buzz for hours with this or that meme, so eventually she’s made the right choice, although there’s the downside of people sometimes having to tell her when something juicy happens.  
  
There are ninety-nine unread messages in the _Straw-Hats_ chat-room, and patiently she catches up with the latest news, although the first twenty are enough for her to get the gist of things. It seems Luffy has invited the new girl, Nico Robin, to their gathering later today. The announcement has been accepted positively on the average, especially by the boys – even _Zoro_ has bothered replying, and Sanji is already off the tracks. Kaya notices one of her friends is way less enthusiast than she’s trying to appear, and quickly she opens the only other group-chat she’s part of after writing that she doesn’t have a problem with the girl joining them. There she checks up on the princess, and she confirms her suspicion.  
  
While not having something against the girl herself, Vivi’s not sure how she’ll handle the instant connection to Crocodile that she triggers. At the same time, she’s adamant she will overcome the obstacle, and that she doesn’t want the others to exclude her just because she _may or may not_ remind her of bad memories.  
  
Kaya is very impressed by her friend's maturity, and Nami is very quick in changing topics and ask them if they want to get ready at her place. Her sister’s on vacation, _again_ , so they would have the villa entirely to themselves. The last time she has agreed to something like this they were drunk on bubbles way before an acceptable hour, but with all the travelling she’s done in the summer the blonde has really missed her friends, so she begrudgingly accepts the other girl’s invitation. She sets aside her book, making an internal promise she’ll come back to it soon.  
  
It’s time she gets out of the bathtub and ready to go to Nami’s.

* * *

Vivi appreciates her friends’ subtle attempts at comfort, but the more the time she’ll meet with the other approaches, the less _stressed_ she feels about spending time with Robin outside of school.  
  
She feels _so_ _silly_ , _really_ , for even thinking the sight of the girl could mess with her _hard-to-regain_ confidence, but truth is her time with Crocodile has been the most traumatizing experience of her life, the first occasion in which she has felt truly and utterly helpless. She just needs to think of her escape and the freedom she’s felt while running out of the dungeon and associate _that_ with Robin, rather than the things that happened before.  
  
“What do you guys think?” Nami’s voice forces her to turn around and forget her troubles. The orange-haired girl holds up two dresses, hoping for advice. One is green, and beautiful, the other something so _skimpy_ Vivi, with her title, would never be allowed to wear. A certain modicum of decorum is expected of a princess.  
  
“The green one”, she suggests. Kaya hums in agreement, and Nami throws the tiny piece of satin fabric back into her closet.  
  
When the three of them are all dressed, hair and makeup done, the hostess of their small, impromptu gathering produces a bottle of champagne out of nowhere, so that celebrations for the beginning of their senior year can properly be started. A quick toast and they’re rushing outside, bottle in tow, where Luffy is picking them up with his chauffeur so that anyone can drink and be safely brought home later in the night. The car is less extravagant than the limousine which each morning accompanies him to school, so hopefully they won’t draw too much attention.  
  
“Good evening, Hachi”, they chorus, greeting the man holding the door open for them.  
  
“Good evening, _Ms. Nami_ , _Ms. Kaya_ , _Princess Vivi_ ”.  
  
Vivi cringes a little at the deference in his tone. What she loves the most about New Marineford is that this is the closest she’ll ever get to a normal life, with normal friends and normal problems.  
  
 _Here_ , she can forget the responsibilities she has left in Alubarna.  
  
Once inside, they settle on the comfortable, spacious seats and offer Luffy a glass of the champagne they’ve brought along. The car glides smoothly on the road, the traffic seems low. It’s only thirty past six, but it’ll take them at least half an hour before they pick everyone up and get to the restaurant. Zoro lives nearby, so they stop at his house first. Ten minutes later and they’re in front of the apartment Usopp, Franky and Sanji share together. The blond is the last to enter the car, smelling as if he’s taken a bath in his _eau de toilette_. They continue south, heading for Chopper’s house, and when their usual group of nine is complete, and ready to party, they finally set out for the remaining address.  
  
Like the majority of the students who aren’t originally from the island, whose surface is almost entirely occupied by the capital, Grand Line City, the new girl is renting an apartment not far from the city-center. Being the closest to bars, restaurants and nightclubs, she’s consequentially the last person they pick up for the night.  
  
Robin lives on a side street nested on a popular shopping road, on the second story of what looks like an old, but recently renovated building. There’s a quaint bookshop on the first floor, but on the right side of the shop's door an elegant row of iron stairs leads to the entrance of a loft. From the outside it seems like a nice place, in its quirky, laid back taste.  
  
Vivi feels surprisingly relaxed when her curtain of raven hair peeks inside the limousine.  
  
 _Everything will be fine_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to celebrate the birth of our favorite swordsman, here's the first chapter of the little high school AU I've been writing recently. I'm currently writing the 15th chapter, so updates shouldn't take me too long for now. I must warn you that I'm a compulsive shipper, and that a lot of pairings will be added as we get deeper into the story. I don't have a beta, English is not my first language and it's the first time I write a story using the present tense, not to mention the first time I let one of my One Piece fanfictions leave my computer, so all mistakes are completely mine... I'm sure we are both in for a wild ride, lmao. It's also my first time on Ao3, so, please, bear with me as I try to figure it out. Nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy this little thing.


	2. Uptown Funk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Robin opens a little about her past, the Straw-Hats visit Marco's nightclub and Eustass is a little shit.

The group arrives at the restaurant twenty minutes past their reservation, but the host, Jinbei, still manages to squeeze them into a nice little corner of the dining area, with a view on the beautiful pond in the back garden, where they were originally supposed to eat, accommodating them as soon as they step into the building.  
  
He has curly, black hair and thick, dark eyebrows, he’s a large man with broad shoulders and a deep, boisterous laughter; over the years, they have grown to be some of his favorite customers. As it’s still summer, he doesn’t bother showing them to the wardrobe.  
  
They have a new friend, he notes, absent-mindedly, as he escorts them to their table.  
  
“Someone will drop by soon to give you the menus and take your order for the drinks”, he announces. “Until then, allow me to offer you a taste of a very special wine from our canteens”.  
  
He produces an old looking bottle from a nearby cabinet, and the bottle opener from the front pocket of his apron. The cap _pops_ open, and he pours two fingers of the drink in the bigger of two glasses sitting in front of each of them. He then grabs a glass for himself from a table with no customers, repeating the process.  
  
“Enjoy your dinner. _Cheers_ ”.  
  
Returning back to the kitchen so that he can send one of the waiters out, Jinbei smiles to himself.  
  
Luffy’s group reminds him of his own youth, of his own time in New Marineford.   
  
They were never such an _elastic_ group, however, in constant expansion. _Funny how traditions change_.

* * *

“So, tell us a little more about _you_ ”, Nami requests softly of the new girl, one arm propped on the table, on top of which she’s resting her head, and a small smile playing on her lips. “How are you liking New Marineford so far?” She’s the embodiment of _chilling_ as of right now, but her eyes are very careful in processing the raven-haired girl’s reaction, looking for a genuine emotion, and from there a way to exploit it. She can read most people quite easily, so it’s always a surprise when someone turns out to be _properly_ mysterious.  
  
Her hopes for a new friend grow immensely when no change perturbs her face.  
  
“It’s quite _lively_ ”, Robin returns the smile, but Nami can tell her appearance is the product of meticulous calculation. She wonders what _that_ is about. “The quality of the education seems excellent, and the campus is quite stunning. I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant year”.  
  
“What about your _old_ school?”, she urges her. “Was _that_ nice?”  
  
 _There she goes_ – Nami thinks with satisfaction. It’s just a small twitch in the corner of her eye, a brief contraction of her long, dark lashes, but the _reaction_ is there nonetheless, and it looks promising.  
  
“The Institute is a great academy”, the other supplies, and she can practically see her as she weighs the words on her tongue. “Unfortunately, my physician recommended a change in scenario as fundamental for my health”.  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that”, Kaya intrudes, and Nami lets the proverbial bone go. If she shares her medical history with them, it will be an act of pure, unadulterated free will. “Are you feeling any better?”  
  
“I’ve moved to Grand Line City two months ago. Summer has been treating me very well. Thank you, Kaya”.  
  
“I can ask my mum to give you a full check-up”, Chopper offers, grinning at her. “She’s not just our biology teacher, but the best doctor in town, too”.  
  
Other people at the table shiver at the reminder that someone as sinister as Professor Kureha is also the single parent of someone as sweet as Chopper. It’s _unexplainable_.  
  
“At least you didn’t spend three whole hours listening to Professor Kuro blabbing about his holidays”, Usopp scoffs, stuffing his mouth with the leftovers of his girlfriend’s tokoyakis. “Like hell _we_ care. _Uh_ , by the way, _Robin_ ”, he looks up, smiling apologetically. “They talked quite a bit about you in my class today”.  
  
“I’m afraid that is to be expected”, she replies. Nami vaguely notices her mask as it shifts back into place. “From what I’ve heard, it’s not common for transfer students to be accepted in their senior year”.  
  
“You must be very important, Robin _-_ ch _w_ an!”, Sanji swoons. _Typical_.  
  
“Quite the _opposite_ , to be fair with you”, she giggles, “My mom was the famous one, but she had enough... _clout_ to secure me a spot in here, I guess. I guess it helped that she was engaged to our current math professor-”  
  
“ _Eh_?!”, Franky winces. “Your mom dated _Aokiji_?”  
  
“They were together for almost ten years”, Robin sighs, wistfully. “She died six months before the wedding”.  
  
“I’m _so_ sorry to hear that. How old were you?” Franky stretches a hand across the table and squeezes her arm gently. “Aokiji, still”, he adds. “That’s _super_ wild”.  
  
Usopp nods in agreement, while the others look up at her in concern. They’re half-expecting her to tear up and cry or be so enraged at Franky’s antics to walk away, but all they get it’s a grief-ridden smile instead. Robin seems quite used at telling the sad story of her life. Nami feels kind of bad for starting the chain of questions now.  
  
“It was two years ago, so… I was _sixteen_ when it happened”. 

* * *

She is familiar with standing on the receiving end of other people’s compassion, but that doesn’t mean she despises it any less than the first day. She hated the _funeral_.  
  
Robin braces herself for the expected wave of shallow _I’m sorry_ -s and “I am here if you want to talk about it”, but her new schoolmates do nothing of the sort.  
  
Luffy pours a glass of the wine they’ve been drinking all dinner long for everyone, then raises his own. “I’m sure she was a great woman”, he says. “ _To Ms. Nico_ ”.  
  
The sound of the glasses clattering threatens to break her already fragile countenance, but she takes a deep breath and joins them in the toast. Theirs is quite different from any reaction she’s ever gotten before, but she thinks she likes it. Her new friends- _err, schoolmates_ , are truly a captivating bunch. Robin is sure her mother would like them as well.  
  
“That must have been hard”, Nami notes, and she can see the orange-haired girl is holding back, as if she’s feeling the need to hug her but knowing she probably needs it more than the dead woman’s child does. “ _Very_ ”, is her tight-lipped reply. As much as she appreciates the concern, she’s eager to move to another topic of conversation. She doesn’t like being the center of attention, especially of _this_ kind. “Do you come here often? The host seemed to know you very well”.  
  
“Jinbei’s the best”, Usopp sighs, not oblivious to her attempt, but willing to comply.  
  
“Jinbei’s _great_ ”, corrects Sanji. “ _Zeff_ , my mentor, is the real best”.  
  
“I’m confused”, she deadpans. “Who’s Zeff? What do you mean your mentor?” Not that she cares that much, but everything is better than a melancholic walk in memory lane.  
  
“Zeff is the owner and head chef of the Baratie. It’s a fine dining facility, a couple of blocks west”, the boy recites. “As for my involvement, I’m training under his master-ship in my spare time. I’m the sous-chef there during the summer”.  
  
Now, this is something _new_. A prince ( _third in line_ , but a prince, nonetheless) working in a restaurant. Perhaps there’s more _substance_ to the aspiring casanova than she’s thought upon first meeting him. “That sounds very promising, Cook-san,” _swoon_ , “I’ll make sure to try his kitchen soon”.  
  
“I promise you won’t regret it, _Robin-chwan_!”  
  
“ _Tsk_ ”. The scoff comes from the green-haired boy sitting next to him, and it distracts Sanji from his pursuit of the raven-haired beauty, who returns her attention to the others.  
  
Luffy orders his third plate of _assorted rustic_ _meat_ , while the orders browse the dessert cart with little interest.  
  
“I’m getting _sake_ ”, Zoro grunts at the end of his inspection of the menu. “Anyone else?”  
  
“I’ll join you”, Franky nods, followed by Usopp and Kaya. Unsurprisingly, Vivi refuses, while Nami takes some time to think about it. With an early alarm the following morning, it’s probably not a wise choice. “You know I _technically_ can’t purchase that stuff _yet_ ”, Chopper shrugs. “I’ll pass”.  
  
Luffy’s still eating, and not a big fan of sake, so that only leaves Robin. She licks her lips, nervously, before declining the offer as well.  
  
There’s a tap on her shoulder. It’s Nami. “You don’t drink much, do you?”, she asks.  
  
“No, _ma’am_ ”, she giggles. “I do _not_ ”. _Because I used to_.  
  
Nami smirks, then she turns to Zoro and decides she’ll have that cup of sake _after all_. Her hazelnut eyes bore back into her blue ones. She winks. “I guess we’ll have to change that”.  
  
Robin’s adamant she won’t succeed, _but_ _she would love to see her try_. She wasn’t expecting her first day in the new school to turn out so delightful.

* * *

The crew leaves Jinbei’s place a little before ten, with their bellies full and their bank accounts a little less so, thoroughly happy and quite satisfied with their purchase.  
  
Per Franky’s suggestion, they decide to hit one of their favorite bars, owned by Luffy’s brother dear friend Marco, the _Phoenix’s Nest_. There’s a long line outside of people who are waiting for their turn to enter the club, but the bodyguard recognizes them, and allows them to cut through said line. A couple of weak protests raise from the crowd, but they are mostly ignored.  
  
Inside, everything is as one would expect from such an expensive place. There aren’t that many tables around, contributing to its halo of exclusivity, but there is a dancefloor, and the bartender, Marco himself, makes the best drinks in the city. All and all, it’s a win from every perspective. They’re escorted to one of the biggest tables, where an ice bucket holding a bottle of champagne awaits them. Since the place is very famous among the students of New Marineford, and many tonight have reason to celebrate, it isn’t long before they start bumping into their schoolmates.  
  
Luffy has been given the task to deliver their orders to the bar counter, but he hasn’t walked further than four feet before he is stopped in his tracks by a familiar, feminine voice.  
  
“Watch your step, _Monkey D. Luffy_ ”. The voice belongs to a girl from the only other senior class, Jewerly Bonney. She has long, pink hair, and she’s donning her usual pout, the one that always makes her look as if she’s displeased with the people around her. As far as he know, Bonney doesn’t have many friends, but she’s perfectly fine with it.  
  
She’s pissed at the _inherent hypocrisy of the student body_ , which, he quotes, _is oblivious to its own privilege_ , and the two of them are on speaking terms solely because she was his biology tutor last semester. “ _Sorry, Bonney_ ”, he offers her an apologetic smile, scratching the back of his head. “I wasn’t looking”.  
  
His encounter with his pink-haired schoolmate ends doesn't last much longer, and it’s only the warm-up for a much stranger one.  
  
This time, however, someone else is distracted and ends up bumping into his back.  
  
“Watch out”, a known, _yet_ unfamiliar voice growls. Black eyeliner, short, dark hair peeking from under a white hat with black dots, too many piercings to count...  
  
 _Trafalgar D. Water Law_. The one and only.  
  
“Excuse me?” Luffy feels like he has been just slapped hard in the face. “ _You_ ’re the one who almost knocked me off”.  
  
“ _Yeah, yeah_. Whatever”, the other holds his hands up in surrender, the hint of a smirk curling up the corners of his lips. “Look, I don’t have time to waste here with you now, Mugiwara- _ya_ ”.  
  
How _brutish_ of him, he hasn’t even apologized yet. He is just as rude as he is _pretty_.  
  
“I’m not holding you back”, Luffy scoffs. “I’ll see you around”.  
  
He doesn’t even know why he has bothered saying goodbye, especially after the crude treatment he’s received, but there are bridges one truly doesn’t want to burn, and Trafalgar Law smells like _adventure_. By the time he gets to the bar counter, he has forgotten what he was supposed to order.

* * *

Her seat is comfortable, the ambiance is great. She _even_ likes the music. Her little black dress is the perfect compromise between fashion and practicality, and it allows her to sit properly without fearing her underwear might show up from beneath her skirt. Robin’s having a great time, _seriously_. She’s had only two drinks, the wine the host offered them before dinner and the one poured in Olvia's honor, so she’s still perfectly sober and enjoying herself immensely as she bears witness to her classmates’ shenanigans.  
  
They don’t seem to have a problem with getting _shit-faced_ , she envies their innocence a little.  
  
Even Chopper has succumbed to temptation once outside of the public eye. The youngest member of the group has left some time ago for the dancefloor, followed by the other girls and Sanji, so that means only her, Zoro and Franky are currently sitting at the table as Usopp and Kaya went straight home after dinner. Luffy has disappeared an hour ago, when he was sent to the bar, and is yet to return. It wouldn’t be the first time he meets this or that old friend and spends half the night catching up, so it was decided they’ll wait another thirty minutes or so before they grow concerned.  
  
Soon enough, Franky leaves to introduce himself to the guy who’s been staring at him since they arrived, and Robin’s left with the taciturn green-haired boy. The silence feels kind of heavy.  
  
Zoro looks as if he’s half-asleep, arms crossed on his chest and eyes shut, lips pierced in a tight line. She’s not sure it would be okay for her to bother him, but she never feels like dancing when she’s sober, so she might as well try. “ _So_ , what are your interests, besides from sake?” She knows it sounds _cheeky_ , but the blush that instantly spreads on his cheeks is worth it.  
  
“What do you do with your free time?”  
  
He pries one eye open. “I’m a swordsman”, he says, and he’s very... _serious_ about it, it seems. “In my free time I train. When I’m not training, I hang out with this carousel of misfits”. He moves a couple seats, and he’s now so close she can feel his warm breath on her face. “They’re a weird bunch, but they’re my friends”.  
  
She doesn’t question him about the subtle threat hidden in his words, _hurt them and you’ll have me to answer to_ , but she’s come to New Marineford _detoxed_ of ill intentions, so she hopes over time he will learn to trust her. Robin can’t be sure she’ll never _fuck_ up, if the ten of them are to be friends, she can only promise she’ll do her absolute best, and pray it’ll be enough.  
  
“I’ve met _stranger_ people”, she remarks, politely. “So far, you have all been extremely nice to me...” She doesn’t know where the last part has come from exactly, but she’s glad it has stopped weighing on her chest. Robin wasn’t expecting to blend so easily into the new school. Saul will be happy to know.  
  
Zoro flashes her a boyish grin. “ _We_ could say the same. Welcome to New Marineford”.   
  
His voice is a low sound, a bit huskier than usual. Whether the change in his tone is caused by the alcohol or something else, she can’t tell.  
  
Robin tilts her head slightly on one side, noticing how their mouths are now at only one breath of distance.  
  
“My, thank you, Swordsman- _san_ ”.

* * *

He’s close enough to count, one by one, her lashes, or the small, light freckles dusted on her nose and cheeks. Her breath is cool as it crushes against his closed lips, and there’s something in her blue eyes that is slowly, but steadily, as he stares into their depths, driving him _mad_. Zoro remains aware, however, even in his inebriated state, that it is not _polite_ to stare at a girl for too long, or else she’ll think you’re a _creep_ , which is not the impression he wants to leave upon this one.  
  
He glances down at his shoes, then back at her, but with less intensity, and straightens his back a little, moving a bit further away from her.  
  
“ _So_ , what do _you_ like to do?” _Much better already_. She blinks at him in surprise, but she’s quick to recover. He suspects she’s one of those girls who always find their way around words somehow.  
  
”My passion is ancient history”, she says. “And my dream is to become an archaeologist, _someday_. Most of the time, you can find me in the company of a book”.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_ ”, is his stupid reply. He can’t remember the last time he’s read something unrelated to schoolwork, just for the _pleasure_ of it. He takes another sip from his glass, but there’s only melted ice in it at this point. “What kind of book?”  
  
“ _History_ , of course”, she replies. Her giggle is a soft, pleasing sound. “I love _adventure novels…_ ”, she adds when her laughter subsides. “…But I’m open to any genre, really, as long as the story is really good”.  
  
Zoro smirks. “I’d rather have my _own_ adventures”. He’s supposed to sound _cool_ , but she looks unimpressed, and he ends up feeling like an idiot instead. “ _Err,_ I mean...”, he tries to correct.  
  
“I know what you mean”, she interrupts. “We just like to go about it in different ways”.  
  
“I guess so”, he shrugs. It makes sense when she puts it like that. “I’ll give yours a chance, if you try mine”.  
  
Robin looks up, blue eyes scrutinizing him silently. Her black dress exposes her collarbone, on which a lovely blush is spreading out and… _Focus, Zoro. Focus_. _Don’t be such a snake.  
  
_ “You’ve gotten yourself a deal, Swordsman- _san_ ”.  
  
 _Again with the nickname,_ he groans, inwardly. He’s not sure what’s pushing her to address him in such a way, but the way her tongue rolls over the letters... it sparks something fierce in the pit of his stomach. Like this morning in the café, being alone with Nico Robin feels both glorious and oddly life-threatening.  
  
“We should go look for Luffy and the others”, he says after a while, making it a point to look at his wristwatch. While it’s his discomfort that makes him want to end the outing on an early note, he doesn’t want her to know that’s what’s happening. She has no responsibility over his lack of judgement in the presence of a _pretty_ girl.   
  
“There’s _school_ tomorrow, after all”, he adds, lamely, when she looks skeptically at him.  
  
He can’t believe he’s the one who just said _that_ , but the reminder seems to work, because Robin grabs her handbag and sits up very quickly. She turns around with a soft smile. “Are you coming?”  
  
Since the Phoenix’s Nest makes the customers pay as soon as they receive their orders, there’s not a bill they need to cover, and they give up the table with no second thoughts. They decide to head for the dancefloor first and the bar later, spotting the familiar patch of blue hair sitting on top of Franky’s head as they’re making their way out of the VIP area. Only there’s fingers knitted through the strands, and his admirer from earlier is pinned against the wall, kissing him passionately. The pair only needs to exchange one look to convene Franky won’t be leaving with them anytime soon.  
  
They continue on their way to the dancefloor, keeping their eyes open for their friends as they surpass couple after couple, all locked up in tight embraces. Somehow, the two fingers Robin circles around his left wrist, right above his watch, feels a lot more _intimate_ to him than some of the make-out sessions he’s being forced to witness.  
  
“I’ve been told you tend to get lost _a lot_ ”, she teases.  
  
 _Why are his ears so warm all of a sudden_?

* * *

Vinsmoke Sanji can’t say he’s in the mood for dancing, but he rocks his hips and sways his arms anyway, following the rhythm dictated by the song.  
  
He’s keeping close watch on his friends, discreet but attentive.  
  
Nami and Vivi are all dolled up for the night out, and they look positively _gorgeous_ , but unfortunately he is not the only man with eyes here, and the two are receiving lewd looks from many of the club's customers. Careful not to be the one who ends up invading their personal space, he moves in slow circles around them, glaring at the cluster of admirers that is rapidly gathering nearby.  
  
From the corner of his eye he notices a hand lounging for the orange-haired girl, but he grabs the arm connected to it before its fingers can close around her bicep and pull her away. Bright, red hair, three piercings: a septum, a bridge and an eyebrow ring. Eustass Kid has eyes the color of blood, burning metaphorical holes in his face, and his customary snarl seems more _feral_ than usual.  
  
“ _Fuck off_ , Germa- _scum_ ”, he spats.  
  
Eustass is an entitled, rude little _shit_ , and it’s safe to say the two have never liked each other. Sanji was very relieved when his friend announced they were broken up (and _never ever_ getting back together this time). “I only want to talk to Nami”. There’s a bit of a slur in his voice, with a hint of _pathetic_ he can only label as regret. He has probably figured out his mistakes, realized what it is exactly that he has lost for-ever. Sanji supposes his schoolmate has finally matured, but he doesn’t budge. He won’t let him hurt Nami again, not if he can prevent it.  
  
“As you well know, Nami doesn’t want to talk to you”, he says, ignoring the insult as only a _gentleman_ would. _Seriously_ , though, sometimes being the better man is tough as _fuck_. “Go _home_ , Eustass. You’re drunk”. Sanji glares once more as he walks past him, his threat heavily etched on his face.  
  
Kid seems about to go after him, but then he shakes his head, chugs some more of the rum he’s been holding in his other hand for the entire exchange, which Sanji notices only now, and leaves.  
  
It’s easy from there to spot his friends once more, and he’s happy to see Chopper has taken his place in fending off the sharks; he’s a bit less effective, _however_ , and the space around Nami and Vivi is getting slimmer as each second ticks by. The two girls seem oblivious to it, though, content to just have fun with Chopper and sway their hips wildly to the music. He makes his way back to them.  
  
“Sanji- _kun_!”, Nami throws both arms around his neck in a clumsy hug. He should be used to her displays of affection by now, but _truth is_ , he still gets as stiff and dumbstruck as he did the first time around. His daydreaming is soon cut off, however. “What was that about?”  
  
How stupid of him to assume _she_ wouldn’t notice. Nami has an attention for details that’s quite rare.  
  
“Nothing you should worry about, Nami-s _w_ an”, he says, patting awkwardly the back of her hair. It’s as much comfort as he can provide whilst keeping himself from having a heart-attack, or _worse..._ a nosebleed. Her perfume is that intoxicating. _Mh_ , _tangerines_ – but he snaps out of it, using whatever willpower he has left. “Just a friendly chat between Eustass and I. Someone needed to remind him of something called _personal_ _boundaries_ ”.  
  
The girl pulls back from the hug, _he can breathe again_ , and her hazelnut eyes bore into his. Nami grins. “Thank you, Sanji- _kun_ ”.   
  
He smiles back at her. _Yeah, anytime_. 

* * *

Vivi is quite relieved when Zoro and Robin walk by and declare it would be wiser for them to call it an early night.  
  
She’s been thinking the same for half an hour at least, so she gingerly agrees to the plan. They need to sober up Chopper a little before they drive him back home, and Luffy, as is turns out, never returned to the table. By the time they’re tucked safely inside of their beds, it’ll be way past midnight – as it is, they’re _already_ indulging in inappropriate behavior for a school-night.  
  
Her heels are starting to take their toll on her feet, and the previous high she’s received from the alcohol is rapidly turning into a heavy desire for slumber. Vivi stifles down a yawn.  
  
“Luffy’s phone doesn’t ring”, Nami mutters. “He probably forgot to charge it up as usual”.  
  
Her friend is still standing awkwardly close to Sanji, but now she does not have the energy to unpack all of that. The hug has been _bizarre_ enough, plus she knows Nami would talk to her about it on her own terms, _if_ there ever was something to talk about in the first place. Maybe she’s been hallucinating all along, and the two haven’t made _doe-eyes_ at each other for the past twenty minutes.  
  
How would _she_ know, anyway? She’s never been on a date.  
  
“I’ll check the men’s toilette”, Zoro sighs. “The rest of you should head for the bar. Ask Marco if he saw him. I’ll meet you by the car in ten minutes or so”.  
  
“What about Franky?”, asks Chopper. “Isn’t he coming with us?”  
  
The green-haired boy smirks. “Franky is kinda... _busy_ right now. He’ll be fine”.  
  
Zoro turns around and disappears back into the crowd of missing people. It only now occurs to Vivi that he’ll probably get lost on his way to the bathroom, and then again on his way back to the car.  
  
Nami is on the same page. “We shouldn’t have left him go on his own”.  
  
“What’s done is done”, Sanji chimes in, “The _moss-head_ can take care of himself”.  
  
“Shouldn’t we be going to the bar?”, Robin asks, politely. “Let’s have a little faith. This club isn’t _that_ large”.  
  
Vivi smiles at her naivety. _Clearly_ , she hasn’t been subjected to Zoro's _atrocious_ orientation skills _yet._  
  
It doesn’t take long for the group of five to reach the bar, but, sadly, there’s no sign of jet-black hair and a goofy grin there. Marco is not there either.  
  
“Let’s wait for them outside”, Vivi suggests. “I’m craving some fresh air”.  
  
They make a beeline for the exit, saying goodbye to the same bodyguard who let them in on their way out. Outside, Hachi is waiting for them, pacing in a tight perimeter around the car. He seems to light up when he spots them, but his smile is quickly replaced by a frown when he notices Luffy’s absence. “Garp-san won’t be pleased”.

* * *

Zoro pushes open the bathroom's door, which has been trashed beyond repair by the customers. A funky smell makes his nose curl up in disgust.  
  
Regardless their social status, some men truly are _beasts_.  
  
No one’s in the communal space, where the sinks are placed, but some of the stalls are occupied, and he waits patiently for the people inside to finish their business and come out. He can’t help but feel a bit like a pervert, keeping tabs on who is inside which toilette, but this seems the fastest way to find Luffy. God knows he’s lost enough time already while trying to get to the bathroom.  
  
Eventually the light on only one of the stalls shines red, but the person inside seems determined to overstay their welcome.  
  
Since there’s no one inside that can see and, more importantly, _judge_ , he gets a little closer to the door, from behind which some faint, gagging noses can be heard. There’s a louder _thud_ , then the inhabitant of the cubicle slumps to the ground, a familiar ankle with a straw-hat tattoo peeking from behind the metallic barrier.  
  
“ _Luffy_?”, he calls out. Slowly, the door opens. “Do I really want to know?”  
  
“You probably don’t, Zoro”, his best friend laughs, albeit weakly. “But I’ll tell you _anyway_ …”  
  
Somehow, they find their way to the car, even though it takes longer than he’ll ever willingly admit. It turns out Luffy met an old acquaintance on his way to the bar, was challenged to a drinking contest and went way beyond his stomach’s possibilities out of sheer spite, resulting in him spending most of the night puking his soul out in the bathroom.  
  
The green-haired boy is still laughing at his dumbass- _ery_ when they spot Hachi in the parking lot, surrounded by the rest of the group.  
  
 _All’s well what ends well_.

* * *

* * *

Nami rolls her eyes, visibly irritated by the professor’s long enquiry about the seriousness of their future role of New Marineford ambassadors. While she understands where he comes from, as former students are a form of marketing the school takes very seriously, hence its exclusivity, it is only the second day of school, _for God’s sake_ , it’s not like they won’t be able to catch up with whatever they’ll be taught today. She has gotten less sleep than needed, and her hair is a mess, the last thing she needs is listening to Akainu complaining about their lack of respect for their elders. _Yikes_.  
  
Robin turns around in the seat in front of her, frowning. “Is he always this pompous?”  
  
Nami nods, energetically. “Wait for the day people don’t show up for tests”.  
  
The professor drags a bit longer in his monologue, demanding they’ll be more focused from now on, but eventually his shoulders slump and he relaxes on his chair, asking the students to open their copies of the textbook. He’s barely read the title of the chapter, and explained what the lesson is about, when someone knocks loudly on the closed door, shouting, “Professor! It’s _me_! Open the door!”  
  
Nami shakes her head with an amused smile, whilst Sakazuki pretends not to hear him. There’s no way he’s touching his register again.  
  
As far as the physics' professor is concerned, Monkey D. Luffy never showed up for class today.

* * *

“I can’t believe you’ve wrestled with a _shark_!”  
  
Later that day, Chopper and Usopp are the first to get to the cafeteria, and sit at their usual table. Stories from Usopp’s tropical cruise earlier in the summer are still fresh, and he puts a lot of effort in their embellishment before he delivers them to his younger friend. Chopper’s the only one who still believes them.  
  
“I know, I know, it sounds impossible…”, the dark-haired boy shakes his head, feigning modesty. “…But the circumstances called for an impossible solution”.  
  
“You’re so cool, Usopp!”, Chopper squeaks in delight.  
  
A blonde girl then sits next to Usopp, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Hey, _babe_ ”. Kaya is followed by the other girls, who occupy a seat as well, and five minutes later by Luffy and Zoro, who have taken a de-route at the end of class to get something from Sanji’s locker. There’s no trace of the blond prince next to them, however, whilst Franky joins them a little after that.  
  
“Good morning, everyone”, he greets them with a huge grin. He was late to school this morning, so this is the first time they see him since last night at the club. “ _So_ , what did I miss? I'm sorry I’ve bailed on you guys”.  
  
“It’s nothing”, Nami shakes her head. “Rather, do you know where Sanji is? These two”, she points at Luffy and Zoro, who shrug dismissively, “Don’t want to tell me how they got separated”.  
  
“I’m afraid I don’t”, Franky mutters. “What’s up with that?”  
  
“Someone trashed Sanji’s locker”, Luffy blurts out. “They wrote some bad stuff on it”.  
  
“They’re sorting things out in the principal’s office as we speak”, adds Zoro, helpfully. “Sengoku said they’ll open an investigation, but it’s pretty obvious who did it”.  
  
Chopper doesn’t know what to think, other than Sanji doesn’t deserve such an ominous treatment and that he hopes the person responsible gets caught and punished accordingly.  
  
He hates bullies. Unluckily for them, they’re trying to mess iwith the wrong guy. His friend Sanji is strong enough to defend himself… and then _some_. “Who?”, he asks.  
  
Zoro smirks and takes out his smartphone. “Here, I’ve got a picture”.  
  
 _Yes_ , it is obvious. The skull design with a crown of spikes is unmistakable. That design belongs to _Killer_ , Eustass Kid’s right-hand man. Something else is scribbled on the side with a black marker, but it has been purposefully kept out of the picture.  
  
Chopper gulps, nervously, passing the device to Nami. “Does it have anything to do with last night?”  
  
“Last night?”, Zoro blinks. “What happened last night?”  
  
“He didn’t share the details, but Eustass got a little too close and Sanji had to tell him to back off”, supplies Nami, to whom Chopper’s question was addressed. “Killer was never mentioned, though”.  
  
“That can’t be a _real_ person’s name”, Robin deadpans. “Can it?”  
  
“His father’s a _rockstar_ , he was very popular fifteen or twenty years ago”, says Usopp, “His music was not bad in the beginning, but clearly his parenting skills are an entirely different matter”.  
  
“You have one of his _LP_ s in your room, don’t you?”, his girlfriend chimes in.  
  
He blushes. “Like I said, his music was _not_ bad in the beginning...”  
  
Chopper smiles tenderly at the scene. He has the _coolest_ friends one could ever wish for.

* * *

From another table, Eustass Kid glares daggers at the group of friends.  
  
They sit there, all high and mighty, acting as if they’re _so much better_ than anybody else when the truth is, they are just as _vile_ and _corrupted_ as anybody else.  
  
He hates their hypocrisy. He’s never understood what Nami sees in her friends, why she’s close to them in a way she has never been with him. She was his fucking _girlfriend_ for almost a year, but she has never smiled at him like she's beaming now, surrounded by the pathetic losers. The annoying blond prince is not there with them, though, and Eustass can’t help but smirk.  
  
Surely the idiot has appreciated his small... _gift_ , and if he hasn’t, they can still solve their small quibble _outside_.  
  
Vinsmoke Sanji has disrespected him, it’s only natural (and _fair_ ), for Eustass to disrespect him back. They can leave things as they are, but deep down he craves for some more action.  
  
His life has been impossibly _dull_ since Nami broke up with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here goes the second chapter, where you get a little more information on one of the main character's background. I'm trying to keep them loyal to the original when it's possible and it doesn't sound too crazy in the context of the modern world, so, yup, Nico Olvia is still dead and Robin has her fair share of trauma to unpack in this AU, too. Don't worry, though, she's not the only one. I can't wait for whomever is reading this story to get to the part I'm currently at. I'm having a great time writing this, I hope you'll enjoy yourself too by reading it. The third chapter should be up in the next couple of days, but I'm not sure yet. Until then, my sincere thanks to anyone who reads, comments or leaves kudos. 
> 
> You rock and I'd love to know what you're thinking so far. Law made his first apparition, so cheers to _that_.


	3. Take On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Usopp is reminded of just how much of a lost cause his friends are, Robin partakes in her first sleepover when Nami is too drunk to drive back home, and a certain swordsman dedicates himself to an unusual activity over the weekend: reading.

**TWO DAYS LATER.  
  
**

On Friday, Law kicks the vending machine located on the third floor, which is refusing to serve him the coffee he has already paid for _three fucking times_. “Stupid, stupid thing”, he groans, punching the keypad.  
  
A voice raises from behind his back, feminine and mocking. “Someone here didn’t sleep well last night”, Bonney giggles. “What’s up with you, Trafalgar?”  
  
He has missed three days of school already, and the principal wants to see him before class, so, _seriously_ , his classmate is well and thoroughly mistaken if she thinks he’ll waste his time bickering with her. “Not now, Bonney”, he warns. Turning around, the purple, swollen skin underneath his right eye elicits a very calculated gasp on her part, pink ponytail swaying wildly from the surprise.  
  
It’s pretty clear someone has beaten him up, but she’s smart enough not to make any inquiries about that. She approaches the vending machine and throws a single, precise punch on one side of it. With the amount of snacks she consumes each day, Jewelry Bonney probably knows these things better than anyone else in the school.  
  
The engine finally resets, and a paper cup slides down the apposite tube.  
  
“I’ll see you in class”.  
  
Black coffee at hand (and another spilling freely on the floor, but that’s not _his_ problem), Law proceeds up the labyrinth of stairs and hallways, and eventually finds himself in front of principal Sengoku’s office. His secretary gestures for him to go inside, so taking a deep breath he pushes down the handle and opens the door. He’s been here a handful of times before.  
  
“Sit down, please”.  
  
He follows Sengoku’s invitation and lets himself fall on the plush armchair on the side of his desk opposite from where the principal glares at him, mentally rehearsing the lie he plans on selling him.  
  
“Professor Sakazuki brought to my attention that you have already missed three days of class since the beginning of the year. As you can probably guess, that doesn’t look well on the curriculum of a senior student”.  
  
“I’m aware”, Law mutters through gritted teeth, raising a hand to point at his right eye. “I was in too much pain to attend class, I’m afraid. The doctor wouldn’t let me”.  
  
He stifles down an arrogant smirk. Everything’s going according to plan… only Sengoku’s eyes narrow, and he looks even more suspiciously at him. “What happened?”, he inquires.  
  
Law releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Some bandit approached me on my way home on Monday. I didn’t want to give up my wallet, but he wasn’t very fond of that”. Every word he pronounces is calculated, _low_ and filled with the contempt one would expect from someone of his social stature. He knows how to appease old-fashioned men like him.  
  
“ _I see_ ”, the principal mutters. “The school will be happy to provide a copy of your documents while you wait for new ones. I assume you’ve already gone to the police?”  
  
“Help arrived before he could take off with my backpack, sir. The worst injury I have is my bruised ego”.  
  
The tension eases from now on, and ten minutes later Law is allowed to go to class with the old man’s wish of a " _quick and painless recovery_ ". He smiles to himself as the door closes behind him, the secretary barely raising her eyes from her papers to acknowledge him.  
  
 _Sengoku doesn’t suspect a thing_.  
  
When one dabbles in the kind of _business_ he does, there’s no such thing as too careful. He truly doesn’t need the entire school on his case if he can avoid it.  
  
Law doesn’t plan on ever telling his father, who’s out of town for work, that the other night his only son was beaten up in a small, dark alley, _and_ because he has failed to sell some narcotics to his schoolmates. Donquixote Rosinante, the famous judge and herald of justice, surely wouldn’t appreciate that.

* * *

In the two hours before lunch, Robin has her second and last music lesson of the week. Brook's name wasn't in the timetable for today, but he's subentering for another teacher, Rayleigh, who, according to the principal's note, will show up only on next Monday, when he's free from an unprecised previous engagement.   
  
The music professor is entertaining the class by playing a wide selection of instruments, sometimes even performing songs they request, but the dark-haired girl can’t really enjoy any of it. The book she holds in her lap is burning through the black fabric of her uniform, but the boy the tome is destined too, who sits two desks behind hers, is currently fast asleep. Robin sighs, glancing down at Chopper’s empty seat. He has moved his chair to the front of the class to better enjoy the show, like many other students have done.  
  
She turns around once more, like she has done many, many times in the past twenty minutes, only now Zoro’s dark eyes are open, staring straight into hers.  
  
“ _Hey_. Do you need something?”  
  
The green-haired swordsman has been less _friendly_ after their chat at the club on Monday, but she hasn’t forgotten her promise, even though she’s not sure about bringing it up once more.  
  
Robin picks up the book from her lap and hands it to him. There’s a samurai on the cover, so its contents should be very straightforward, but he glances up somewhat questioningly at her anyway, making her instantly regret that she has followed up on a conversation she had with a drunk version of him. _Jeez,_ she’s _so stupid_ sometimes.  
  
He doesn’t look like the kind of guy who appreciates books, not as much as she does, _anyway_ , not with the same degree of devotion. A man like that simply does not _exist_ , or so she thinks.  
  
“It’s one of my favorite adventures”, she explains, albeit with some hesitance. “I’ve picked this one because there are some swordfights in there. I really like how they’re written, but I thought maybe you could give me an expert opinion on it. I’d like to know if they’re realistic and, if that’s the case, how much so”.  
  
It’s probably the longest she has talked to him in the entire week, besides from their time at the Phoenix’s Nest, and she feels uneasy. She looks earnestly at Zoro, but she half-expects him to laugh in her face and tell her she has misunderstood everything. Robin’s not great at making friends, especially with boys who appear just as aloof as she is, but she feels in this context, in this moment in time, _here_ , in a senior class of New Marineford, it is worth the risk.  
  
“Thank you, Robin”, he grins, her heart nearly missing a beat.  
  
 _Did I hear him correctly_?  
  
“I’ll definitely let you know what I think about it, although it might take some time before I get around to reading it”.  
  
“Take all the time you need”, she replies, weakly, still taken aback by the enthusiasm in his voice.  
  
Zoro nods, handing her his phone just like his best friend did four days ago. “I’ll let you know when the next adventure is planned for”.

* * *

Later that day, Zoro and the others decide to hang out at Luffy’s place, order some pizza and play videogames, maybe drink a beer, or _several_ , and generally have a quiet night in. His brothers are out with their friends, members of the staff have already retreated to their quarters, and the group of six would have the entire mansion at their disposal, if only this wasn’t _Garp_ ’s house, and Garp an extremely paranoid old man. Luffy’s grandfather is out of town for work, but they’re still confined to the basement, where the maxi-screen and consoles are kept in a sort of modern _boys_ -cave.  
  
“...Let me tell you, guys. This has to be the best car game I’ve ever tried”, Usopp boasts, staring at the metallic disk as it gets swallowed by Luffy’s play-station. “The manual change is a bit tricky at first, but once you get a proper hold of it… It’s _poetry_ ”.  
  
“What makes it so special?”, asks Sanji, who stands by the open window, a cigarette hanging from his lips.  
  
Franky’s on a date with the guy from the nightclub, whilst Chopper has been tricked by his mother into accompanying her out of town for the weekend, so their group is a bit smaller than usual. Luffy nibs absent-mindedly at the pizza leftovers, half listening to Usopp’s passionate explanation of the game’s features, Sanji smokes his cigarette, now regretful he’s asked his question, and Zoro is sprawled on the sofa, glaring at the telephone in his hands as he tries to think of something _witty_ to type.  
  
Robin’s phone number glares back at him from the display. _Fuck this_.  
  
This has never been a problem before. He may not be what you would call a _socialite_ , but he’s not _socially hopeless_. Talking to _girls_ was never an issue, so _why_ can’t he find something to write to this one? _Oh yeah_ , it’s because he got her number only under a certain _premise_ , and he doesn’t want to creep her out with random texts. Suddenly, he’s reminded of the book sitting on his bedside table.  
  
 _Maybe_ , if he starts reading that tomorrow, hopefully he can break the ice with something related to that. He's not sure why he wants to do it, why he feels such an over-whelming desire to talk to her alone ( _again_ ), but he’s always been a man of _action_ rather than thought, and he doubts that will ever change. All that he can do, _really_ , is finding a way not to look like a _complete idiot_ while he acts.  
  
“You’ll do better next time”, Usopp tries to comfort Luffy, patting a gentle hand on his shoulder. He’s doing his best not to look too smug over his recent victory, but with bad, bad results. The grin on his face is unmistakable. Luffy rarely loses at anything, especially against _him_. “Your turn, guys”.  
  
He hands the controller he was using to Zoro, whilst Luffy does the same with Sanji after the blond boy puts off his cigarette and makes his way back to the sofa.  
  
“Ready to lose, _dart-board brow_?”  
  
“I hope you enjoy the taste of dust, _moss-head_ ”. 

* * *

The second virtual race ends up in a draw, much to the participants’ dismay, and so does the third, which they play only because they technically need a winner to compete against Usopp.  
  
Zoro and Sanji are about to start a fourth, unwilling to accept the fact that their skills are evenly matched in this game, but the other two, who have been watching and not playing for a good twenty-five minutes now, decide to put a stop to it. “That’s enough”, Usopp declares. “We can play something else”.  
  
Zoro is about to open his mouth in retaliation, but Sanji beats him to it. “That’s probably for the best”, the blond pipes up. “We don’t want _stray-moss_ ’ ego here to be shattered”.  
  
“Come again, _ero-cook_?”  
  
“ _I’m hungryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy_!”  
  
Usopp shakes his head, unimpressed by his friends’ antics. _Seriously_ , these three will never change.  
  
Sanji and Zoro probably won’t stop competing over any ludicrous thing that comes their way, while Luffy has the attention-span of a six years old, and they all share the same penchant for getting themselves into trouble. Sometimes, Usopp truly can’t tell how they all became friends in the first place. He turns off the console, not before he has put the disk back into its case and said case inside of his backpack. It seems their first Friday-night gathering of the year, with two absentees, won’t last much longer.  
  
“Anyone up for another beer?”, the green-haired teen asks.  
  
Sanji, who’s going back to the window to smoke another cigarette, shakes his head.  
  
Luffy shrugs. “Well, if there is no other _food_ …”   
  
“Beer is not _food_ , you _idiot_!”, the blond scolds him, a vein popping on his forehead. For someone whose dream is to be a famous chef, he surely hates Luffy’s _gluttony_.  
  
Usopp feels it necessary to restore the peace before things escalate too much. “Everyone still up for Sunday, right?”  
  
“What’s on Sunday?”, Luffy asks.  
  
“Of course, _you_ would forget”, the other mutters through gritted teeth. When he looks around, however, fully expecting the others’ support, they stare blankly at him. “You guys _too_?”  
  
Zoro scoffs, taking another sip of his beer. “ _Pfft_ , of course _not_ ”, he declares, soon joined by Sanji. “ _As if_!”  
  
“Oh, really? _So_ , what is it that we’re doing on Sunday?”, Usopp presses, determined not to let them go away with their lack of attention this time. It’s frustrating to always be the one who organizes (and, more importantly, _remembers_ ) stuff. “ _C’mon_ , I’m waiting, guys”.  
  
“Well, on Sunday there’s the…”, Zoro trails off, uncertainly. “… _The thing_ ”.   
  
Sanji frowns. “Really, _marimo_? That’s the best you can do?”  
  
“Shut up, _shitty-cook_!”, is the retort. “At least _I_ tried, which is more than can be said…”  
  
Luffy clears his throat, interrupting him, and looks up at his friends, a seriousness etched on his face that is quite peculiar.  
  
For a moment, Usopp dares hoping at least one of them has remembered the commitment they have all agreed upon well over three weeks ago. It's just that, though, _a moment_.  
  
“I don’t care what we’re doing”, Luffy says. “But there’s going to be _food_ there, _right_ , Usopp?”  
  
 _Oh boy, what a bunch of idiots_.

* * *

Around the same time, in a different neighborhood, the girls are spending some quality time together as well, only they’re a bit more _chill_ , comfortably seated on the two sofas of Robin’s living-room.  
  
The original plan was to watch a movie, but they’ve never gotten around to do that. Nami, Vivi and Kaya seem way more interested in _grilling_ the new girl for information in a way that’s not available to them at school, and Robin’s having a hard time fending off their more prodding questions.  
  
“ _Oh_ , c’mon!”, the orange-haired girl insists, swaying wildly the glass of champagne she keeps in her right hand. “There must be _someone_ who caught your eye!” Nami seems under the impression she has _noticed_ someone romantically. _No_ , she’s even walked one step further, _actually_. She’s adamant she _likes_ someone. Robin doesn’t quite know how to react to that.  
  
“Well, there’s plenty of good-looking boys _and_ girls in our school”, adds Kaya, winking at her. “You know how the saying goes… _The sea is full of fishes_ ”.  
  
“I’m sure New Marineford has a lot to offer”, Robin replies, with little commitment. “However, with everything that’s going on in my life right now, I’m afraid the timing couldn’t be any worse. This year is about _myself_ , you know? Sorting things out before the beginning of the rest of my life…”  
  
She hopes they won’t take it badly or get offended by her lack of enthusiasm. Boys are pretty ( _so pretty_ ), sometimes _interesting_ , but there’s too much on her plate right now. She can’t afford any distractions, not when she has just barely put herself back together after hitting rock bottom.  
  
“Well said, Robin”, Vivi nods energetically. She _truly_ is sympathetic. Kaya has found the love of her life in the first boyfriend she has ever had, whilst Nami has practically the whole school crawling at her feet, begging for a chance to date her. Sometimes, they don’t seem to understand that _not all girls_ have the same priorities they do. She turns away from the dark-haired girl to glare at the other two. “Knock it off _,_ you two. Senior year is about getting one’s head straight and figure out what comes next”.  
  
“Who says I can’t do _both_?”, Nami interjects, eyes narrowing.  
  
“No one. Certainly not _me_ ”, Vivi replies, calmly, knowing it takes very little to set her off. “I was merely implying I agree with Robin, and that it’s perfectly fine for her to want to focus on herself rather than some random dude who’ll probably treat her like _shit_ anyway”.  
  
Robin wants to believe it’s the champagne talking for them – and that maybe trying to _spoil_ her new friends hasn’t been that great of an idea, because clearly there’s some unresolved tension between the girls, which alcohol can _deepen_ , but not _resolve_. It’s a certain animosity with which the Alabastan princess seems to talk of men and relationships, and she can’t help but wonder _why_ that is.  
  
“Well, that surely doesn’t sound like Usopp”, Kaya argues. If she’s not careful, she can totally see this conversation escalating a little too much and a little too quickly. Both Vivi and Nami are _stubborn to a fault_ , it would take _weeks_ to restore the peace if those two have a serious falling out. “Koza is _not_ every man on earth, you know?”  
  
“That’s _enough_ , Kaya”, warns Vivi, eyeing nervously the new addition to their small group. It would take the entire night and then _some_ to get Robin fully caught up with the single, disastrous experience she has had with the _un-_ gentle sex, and she’s definitely not in the mood for that now. “You have a great relationship and I’m very, _very_ happy for you, but that doesn’t mean you can discredit _my_ experience on the sole basis of yours”.   
  
Robin glances up from her glass, which she hasn’t touched, to see Kaya’s expression softening. She’s sure these three would be better off resolving whatever issue they have on their own, but it is _her_ apartment they’re sitting into, so she can’t very well go out and leave them alone without _it_ being awkward. _What to do, what to do_ … a vibration in the pocket of her jeans alerts her of the new message she has received. She’s about to pick up her phone, grateful for the distraction, but it seems her orange-haired classmate has different ideas. _Things never go the way one plans them, do they_?  
  
“Funny of you to say that… Kaya can’t say _shit_ and discredit your experience based on hers, but you can discredit _anyone else_ ’s, _eh,_ Princess?”, Nami mutters, sarcastically. “What do you think, _Robin_?”  
  
 _Oh boy,_ why would she ask for _her_ input? Does Nami _hate_ her? She’s trying to turn a new leaf and make some friends, that’s true, but not once has she expressed the desire to get dragged into pre-existing drama which she has no ties to. _Who’s this Koza guy, anyway_? He doesn’t sound like one of the boys they go to school with, but New Marineford is a pretty big place, so how would she _even_ know?  
  
“Well, _umh_ –”, Robin deadpans, taking a deep breath as she tries to put together what little information she has gathered, and some ideas on what the most diplomatic response would sound like. “From where I stand, there’s both _great_ and _awful_ people whether you’re a man, a woman, or _anyone_ in between. I don’t think you should disqualify half of the world’s population based on what they have in their pants”, she pauses, looking up at Vivi, who blushes. Perhaps she’s not pretending to be _deaf_ , perhaps she just wants her girlfriends to be a little more sympathetic over something that has been clearly very traumatic for her. She moves her eyes to the other two. “On the other hand, if Vivi is not interested in the pursuit of romance, I really can’t see what’s the problem with _that_. _To each their own_ , don’t you think?”  
  
There she goes again. _Burning bridges_ because she’s utterly incapable to read the room. From what little experience she has had with friendship ( _not much,_ and _all_ terrible), she’s half-expecting her guests to storm out of her apartment and never utter a word in her direction again. Not that she doesn’t stand by what she has said, which, _seriously_ , _is the bane of her existence_ , but the rich girls at the Institute didn’t particularly enjoy opinions that differed from their own, so she figures the rich girls of New Marineford will be the same.  
  
Luckily for her, and the one she releases is a genuine breath of relief, it doesn’t seem to be the case.  
  
Nami looks thoughtfully at her for a moment, taking her time to process the concept she has just tried to express, then she grins and asks for more champagne. Whatever was troubling her just a minute ago, it’s gone now. Vivi still looks a bit _stiff_ , but less belligerent, and Kaya just shrugs it all off with a knowing smile.  
  
Robin suddenly feels stupid for thinking they would start a war in her living room. These girls are weird, but it’s a _cool_ weird, after all.

* * *

“You are _so_ nice”.  
  
Nami giggles, barely standing straight as she tries to shimmy out of her white denim shorts. She may have had a little too much to drink tonight, but Robin has generously offered her to stay the night, not happy with the thought of letting her drive home, and the two are currently in the latter’s bedroom, getting ready for bed. Only she’s still drunk, while the other hasn’t touched a sip, so she laughs to cover her embarrassment. _She must think I’m such a fool_ …  
  
“ _Seriously_ , though. Nojiko’s still out of town and there’s been a couple robberies in my neighborhood lately, all of them women returning home late at night. Even if I hypothetically _could_ drive my ass here, I’d still be terrorized to get out of the car… So, _thank you_ , Robin. I know you barely know me, so you _really_ didn’t have to–”.  
  
Robin waves her off, hiding her smile behind the fresh pair of sheets she’s now arranging on her bed. “Don’t worry about it”, she states, folding neatly the top corners before she starts arranging the pillows. When she’s satisfied with her work, she pats a hand on the mattress. “Left or right?”  
  
Nami looks up, white shorts now pooled at her ankles. “I don’t really care”, she truthfully replies. She’s so tired even a rug would feel like a five stars spa treatment right now.  
  
“I’ll take the left side, if that’s fine with you”.  
  
She misses the relief that washes over Robin’s face when she realizes she won’t have to sleep next to the window out of courtesy, too busy getting inside of her borrowed change of clothes. Composed of a simple white shirt and purple sweatpants, this pajama is made of very soft fabric, and she brushes it against her cheek. “ _Oh my God,_ what is this?”  
  
“Alabastan cotton”, Robin smirks. “It’s the best”.  
  
 _That’s right_. She always seems to forget her new friend used to live in the country Vivi will one day rule. “How’s Alabasta, anyway?”, she inquires, incapable to put a brake on her curiosity. “I’ve asked countless times before, but Vivi is very tight-lipped about it. She just goes on and on about that pet duck of hers… _I swear_ , it’s like she’s never been to the place, but she’s the _princess_ there!”  
  
“It’s a very beautiful country, with a lot of ancient history”, the other explains, half-heartedly. She can see where this conversation is going, but she’s not sure it would be a wise move for her to babble out the information (well, _speculations_ ) she has gathered over the years. “The people there are somewhat welcoming, albeit a little wary of outsiders. I was there for less than two years, though, so I didn’t get the chance to see everything”.  
  
Nami is not stupid. She knows Robin _knows_ it is not the opinion of a tourist that she’s asking for. It appears the new girl is a bit more sly than she has anticipated. Even though that’s a quality she actually appreciates, it doesn’t stop her from pressing the matter further. “How powerful that guy’s… _Crocodile_ ’s father really is?”  
  
She has always thought it was peculiar a princess from such a faraway country would go to the same school as her, but usually she would brush away her suspects by taking into account New Marineford’s worldwide and enormous prestige, as well as the fact other members of royal families from all over the world, like Sanji, or Shiraoshi, Luffy’s good friend from the other class, study there too. Seeing Robin so cautious in her answers, however, has now stirred up some very old concerns of hers.  
  
“Powerful enough to start a _civil war_ , I’m afraid”. 

* * *

They have moved to the mattress, but they’re still very far from falling asleep. Nami is utterly distraught by what she has just discovered, by how difficult things must be at home for one of her closest friends. Her eyes are fixed on the white ceiling, her mouth pierced in a straight line as she tries to process what Robin just shared with her.  
  
It appears Vivi’s father has many enemies, some of whom are not above getting their hands dirty.  
  
For over fifteen years rebel groups have tried numerous times to force him to abdicate and establish an oligarchy, to the point the king, Nefertari Cobra, has become a prisoner in his own castle because of the many death-threats _and_ attempted murders he has been a victim of. When visiting Alabasta, unfortunately, the princess is subjected to the same fate, which explains why she so often doesn’t go home for the Christmas holidays and has her father fly to Grand Line City instead. The Vivi she knows is a free spirit, the quintessence of a _social butterfly_ , not someone who would be content by just sitting idly inside of a gilded cage. Nami can’t even begin to imagine how she must feel about it.  
  
“I realize it’s a lot to take in…”, Robin trails off, turning her head on the side to face her. Up until now, she, too, has been preoccupied with her own thoughts. “…But like I said, most of the things that are written about the Nefertari family is speculation rather than fact, so I’d appreciate it if you told Vivi I said that, in case you tell her we’ve talked about it. I don’t want her to think I’m trying to bad-mouth her family or anything”.  
  
“I don’t think she would, to be honest”, Nami replies, finishing her sentence just before a yawn she’s not quick enough to stop echoes through the room. “Don’t worry, though. I won’t mention our little chat. If Vivi never said anything about any of this, then I think it’s safe to assume she doesn’t want us to know”.  
  
“Maybe. Or maybe this is just the easiest way for her to cope with the whole situation. It’s a lot easier to forget who you are when nobody is there to remind you”.  
  
Nami reflects long and hard over her last statement. Apparently innocuous, she can’t shake the feeling it sounds a bit too _bitter_ and _cynical_ coming from someone her age. _Who is Nico Robin, then_?  
  
“Are you talking from experience?”  
  
“ _Goodnight_ , Nami”.

* * *

The following morning, Robin is startled awake by the sparrows chirping outside the open window-door that leads to her balcony, along with the _slap_ of her friend’s leg falling on top of hers. During the night the orange-haired girl has sprawled her limbs further and further away, like a starfish, to the point she has occupied most of the king-size mattress, and Robin giggles quietly upon noticing she has been almost kicked out of the bed, squeezed into a small corner, before she gently starts detangling her body from under Nami’s.  
  
The floor is cold under her feet, and a chilly breeze blows into her bedroom from outside.  
  
Picking up her phone from the nightstand, she stands up and closes the window, then saunters out of the room, through the hallways and then into the kitchen, where she settles at the island counter. Her fridge and cabinets are empty, and she’s out of coffee, too, which calls for the desperate measure of unlocking her telephone's screen, tapping her finger over the food-delivery app's icon and picking out somewhere that’s within the range of her apartment. The apartment she's renting is located in a part of the city where most business are either restaurants, clubs or high-end shopping venues, but there are some cafés, too, and whilst her favorite it’s currently closed, what would be her second choice is not.  
  
She orders black coffee for herself, a _frappuccino_ for Nami (she’s seen the orange-haired girl drinking those at school multiple times), and a selection of cookies and other pastries for both, hoping there’ll be at least one piece which her new friend would enjoy eating for breakfast.  
  
Robin has never had many friends – _or_ , one can argue, _any friends at all_.  
  
She has never been to a sleepover, nor has she ever housed one, so she’s not sure what’s the _proper etiquette_ , if there’s one; she just hopes she hasn’t _fucked up_ too badly, that her hospitality has risen up to the challenge, albeit maybe a bit coldly, but most of all that Nami won’t walk out of her apartment today and simultaneously out of her life, giving her the cold shoulder at school when Monday comes and slowly forgetting she even exists no matter the fact they’re in the same class and will be seeing each other five days a week for the rest of the school year.  
  
She has never been good at connecting with girls her age, but Robin would lie if she said she hasn’t grown _fond_ of her classmates in the little time she spent with them, or that she wouldn’t be wrecked if they somehow decided she wasn’t worth their attention (which _, by the way,_ her low self-esteem brings her to think as a perfectly legitimate option). She loves spending time with Nami, Vivi, Kaya and the others.  
  
With breakfast sorted out, Robin sets on scrolling through her notifications, which aren’t many seeing that she’s not very active on social media, not to say almost _invisible_ , just the way she likes it _._ There's a message from Saul, who wants to know if he can stop by later today because he needs to show her some papers, and another she has completely forgotten about, which drains all color away from her face. 

> **01** : **17** \- @ **santoryu**   
> _What about paintball, for an adventure?_

It's an unknown number, but she has a pretty good guess as to whom has sent her the text. A rapid search on google confirms “ _santoryu_ ” is the name of a fighting technique that requires the use of three swords, and soon her mind is filled with images of someone she has become strangely familiar with, and in very little time. Thoughts of short, green hair and a confident smirk disappear, however, when she notices the time at which the message has been sent. It’s been sitting in her phone since last night, and she vividly hopes Roronoa Zoro is not the kind of guy who gets offended when one doesn’t reply straight-away: she would hate to associate such an ominous attitude with someone whom, so far, has given off such great vibes.  
  
The butterflies in her stomach may disagree, but the answer she types is the one her very logical, slightly paranoid mind dubs as the most sensible.

> **10** : **05** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _Sounds great, but it depends._  
>  _Have you started the book?_

It takes ten minutes, two spelling and punctuation revisions and a long interior monologue in which she tries to convince herself there’s nothing wrong with her words, that he’s being nice and she’s just being nice _back_ , but eventually she musters enough courage to press the send button.  
  
Robin’s once again left alone with the silence of her kitchen, which she tries to break by tapping her long, pale fingers on the granite counter. She would turn on the tv and entertain herself with the news (or better, a documentary), but she’s afraid the noise would wake Nami up, so she refrains. Five minutes later, much to her joy, her bell rings.  
  
Gingerly, the girl sprints for the front door, outside of which her rider awaits with her order. Since she has already paid with her credit card, she only greets the boy, who has made food deliveries to her house once or twice already, and wishes him a good day before walking back inside, accompanied by the sweet smell of coffee and freshly baked goods.   
  
Her phone, which is no longer muted, beeps.

> **10** : **11** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _As a matter of fact, I’m doing it just now. My stupid sister wouldn’t let me sleep in peace, anyway…_   
> _We’re meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m. in front of school. Let me know if you’re up for it_. 

* * *

Nami groans, kicking the sheets away. Her hazelnut eyes open slowly, one after the other, slowly adjusting to the bright daylight the room is now basking into as she listens to the sounds of the buzzling city downstairs. Her head pounds so hard, she sways a little as she stands up, clutching at her temples.  
  
She always seems to remember too late what an _absolute fucking bitch_ champagne is to her.  
  
Looking for her phone, she turns back to the bed, where she finds it peeking from beneath her pillow and the girl has the startling realization that she did not sleep alone last night. While Nami has nothing against casual sex, she personally draws the line at _not remembering it ever happened_ , but, _fortunately_ , she notices the unmistakable girly setting of the room, the huge vanity and female clothes neatly folded on one chair, so she manages to put a stop to her anguish before it turns into full, blown-out panic.  
  
Memories from the night before slowly start to unfold, neatly and chronologically, in her mind, and she breathes a genuine sigh of relief upon remembering Robin’s offer to stay the night.  
  
From her current state, dizzy and unbalanced, it’s safe to assume she would have probably crashed into a wall, _or worse_ , if she drove her car last night. She’s grateful that hasn’t been the case.  
  
Following the smell of fresh coffee, she threads barefoot into the hallway, and from there to the kitchen, where her gracious host is sitting at the island-counter, too busy smiling at the small device in her hands to notice rhat she has entered the room. Nami leans on the archway door, seizing the opportunity to examine her carefully. The two may have met less than a week ago, but she’s willing to bet the _spontaneous_ quality of Robin’s current expression ( _excitement_?), is something that is very rare to witness, not to mention _generate_.  
  
She wonders what could change so drastically the girl’s usually cool and collected demeanor, coming to the conclusion it may or may not have something to do with her theory. _She likes someone_.   
  
Like a predator ready to pounce on its prey, but with good intentions, Nami clears her throat.  
  
“Good morning, _sunshine_ ”.   
  
The high thrill of her voice, unluckily, sends a sharp surge of pain to her head, but _oh well, it’ll be worth it_. Maybe she should get her hands on some ibuprofen before she starts meddling, though.

* * *

> **10** : **13** \- @ **thedemonchild**   
> _Count me in._ _I’ve always wanted to try it_.   
> _Do I need some type of gear?_   
>   
> **10** : **14** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Just wear something that’s comfortable and you don’t mind getting ruined_.   
> _We’ll rent everything else directly from the place_.   
>   
> **10** : **15** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _Roger that. Thank you for inviting me, I’m sure it’ll be fun_.   
>   
> **10:** **18** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _A deal’s a deal_.   
>   
> **10** : **19** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _Enjoy your book, Swordsman-san_. 

* * *

> **12** : **20** \- @ **santoryu  
> ** _Just got to the end of chapter six_.   
> _What kind of shitty swordsman does something like that?_   
>   
> **12** : **31** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _I know, right?_   
> _I was devastated when Daisuke left the village_.   
> _He’ll be an excellent villain later in the story, though_.   
>   
> **12** : **33** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Yeah, maybe you’re right_.   
> _But he’s still a dipshit_. 

* * *

> **18** : **12** \- @ **santoryu  
> ** _Tell me this thing has a sequel_. 
> 
> **18** : **27** \- @ **thedemonchild  
> ** _It has four, actually, and a fifth is on the way._   
> _I’ll bring you the second book tomorrow._   
>   
> **18** : **29** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Thank you, Robin_.   
>   
> **18** : **31** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _A deal’s a deal_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much to say this time around, other than I hope you enjoyed the third chapter and that you won't hate me once updates become less frequent lmao. I'm just now coming back from writing down a fuckton of fluff in 17th chapter and, honestly, I can't wait for you guys to get there. That being said, who hurt poor Torao? Wouldn't it be nice if Luffy just kissed it better? Lmao, no. I'm going with the slowburn angle on those two, so I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little while before that sort of thing happens. Stick with me and, hopefully, you won't be disappointed.


	4. What That Speed About?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the Straw-Hats have a great time at the paintball field, at least until Eustass shows up.

**THE FOLLOWING DAY.**

  
The road runs smoothly under Franky’s father’s top-of-the-range van. One of his favorite songs from one of his favorite bands is currently on the radio, and he hums softly to the tune as he drives his way through the busy streets of Grand Line City. It’s early in the morning, but traffic today is no joke. The end of summer is approaching, so many citizens are taking advantage of the merciful weather to go out of town for the weekend. Some are directed to the beach, others to the woods, some to the mountains, but the only access to the highway is on the east side of town, not far, incidentally, from where New Marineford is located, so they’re all converging on the same street.  
  
The drive would normally take fifteen minutes or so, _that is_ , by going at a snail’s pace, but today Franky and his roommates have been inside the car for almost thirty, the school still nowhere to be seen. “ _Ne_ , Franky”, Usopp calls out. “Can you go a little faster? Kaya’s waiting by herself”.  
  
“ _My_ , what a _foul_ thing to hear in the morning. Such a fair lady and neglected so brutally”, Sanji sighs, emphatically. “ _Unforgivable._ Unforgivable, I say!”  
  
“My girlfriend is perfectly fine and certainly not _neglected_ , thank you very much”.  
  
Franky snorts. _If he could make this torture any quicker, then trust him, he absolutely would_.  
  
A grey sports car abruptly overtakes them, almost crashing on a truck that’s driving down the opposite lane and forcing the truck's driver to hit the brakes energetically as its actions cause the rest of the cars in front of him to fall into a slight panic. He may not see the _idiots_ inside the vehicle, but that doesn’t stop him from opening the window on his side and hurling every insult he can think of.  
  
Crazy people like that shouldn’t be given a license. That’s _super_ not cool.   
  
“ _Fucking_ idiot”, Sanji mutters. The unexpected braking has made him accidentally brush the lit end of his cigarette on the expensive linen of his white shirt, and now there’s a small hole on the fabric, glaring daggers at him from his chest. “Someone should _kick_ some manners into their thick skulls, and I’d be happy to oblige”.  
  
“Let’s see if they’ve pulled up somewhere…”  
  
“C’mon, guys. They’re not worth it”, Usopp interjects in a desperate attempt to change topic. Every single time his friends get into a fight, he then somehow finds himself involved _too_ , only his body isn't as strong or sculpted as theirs are, so it takes much longer for it to recover from injuries. “We’re almost there”.  
  
The majority of cars start turning left and proceed for the highway, while the van makes a right, finally able to pick up some speed. Soon enough, the gates of New Marineford are within sight.  
  
“There’s Kayla- _chwan_!”  
  
Franky pulls up in front of the main entrance, and the other two immediately sprint out of the car. He turns off the radio, and picks up his phone from the beverage holder, checking it for messages before he heads out as well, grinning widely at his friends and pretending he’s not disappointed. _Weird_. Iceburg hasn't texted him once in two days.

* * *

The engine rumbles lazily beneath him, strained by the constant braking. Zoro overtakes as many vehicles as he can, but, despite his best efforts, the traffic lights _always_ turn red as he’s about to surpass them, and taking a secondary street is not an option. He can’t afford to get sidetracked ( _err_ , lost) and be late today. He’s not sure why so many people seem so eager to run out of the city, but he hopes that, by the time the whole group shows up and they are on their way, the traffic will be a little less hectic, and their drive to the paintball field smoother than the one he’s experiencing now.  
  
He’s oddly excited for the day in front of him, so much so that getting up this morning has been less of a chore than usual, but he doesn’t want to dwell on _that_.  
  
It’s certainly not the first time he and his friends play paintball, and he knows perfectly well what’s new and _oh-so-thrilling_ about today: Robin is joining them as well. It’s very unlike him to be so nervous at the prospect of spending time with _girls_ , but this one makes him sweat just by looking at him, and blush so wildly he’s constantly reminded of that time Perona showed his baby pictures to her friends. Stopping at yet another red light, Zoro shakes his head, reminding himself that his discomfort will only be as big as he lets it be, but he’s soon distracted by the motorcycle that pulls up on his right side, front wheel slightly ahead of his. He can only assume the other biker wants to race him, and he smirks beneath his full helmet before he whips his head around to check his challenger.  
  
The face, hair and neck are covered by an helmet as well, but one downwards glance reveals that the hands on the throttle are slimmer than his, with long, slender fingers, and the body attached to them… It’s a woman, he concludes as his eyes land on her… _well, boobs_ , and he quickly looks away, tightening his hold on the grip as his attention is captured by the bike she is driving.  
  
Now, _that_ ’s what he calls authentic beauty. Zoro is so mesmerized, he notices the green light only as her tires disappear from his field of view.  
  
He’s not even mad he got distracted. He just wants to know how she got her hands on something that's not supposed to be on the market yet.

* * *

“ _Typical_ ”, Nami seethes, quietly sipping on the hot chocolate she has gotten on her way to the meeting point. “If he doesn’t show up in five minutes, we’re leaving without him this time”.  
  
How come she’s the one that lives the _furthest_ from New Marineford, the last who has gotten out of her house this morning, and she has _still_ arrived before Luffy. Like, _seriously_ , this time it has nothing to do with her _superior_ navigation skills, or the fact she knows most of the city like she does with the back of her hand. That _dumbass_ just doesn’t care if he’s late.  
  
“Anything you wish, Nami- _swan_!”  
  
“What else did you expect?”, Usopp says, but glares at the blond chef. He’s _pissed_ enough at the many compliments he already threw Kaya’s way. “Luffy’s _never_ on time. That’s why our real reservation is one hour after the time I’ve given you all”.  
  
Nami tries calling him again, but his telephone rings dead. He may be one of her oldest, closest friends, but _sometimes_ , she swears, she wants to punch him just as hard as she used to do in kindergarten, before puberty hit them and he gained a good one and a half inches over her. “He’s not picking up”.   
  
“He’ll be here soon”, Zoro says, but he sounds as if he doesn’t believe his own words.  
  
He’s the only person who has known Luffy for longer than she does, so he’s fairly acquainted with his allergy for deadlines.  
  
“You keep telling yourself that, _moss-head_ ”, Sanji mocks him.  
  
“What was that, _whirlpool-brow_?”  
  
“ _Ugh._ Just shut up”, Nami smacks them both on the back of their heads, eager to settle the little dispute before it escalates and de-routes them even more than Luffy is already doing. They’ll have time on the paintball field to jump at each other’s throats.  
  
“Isn’t that his car?”, asks Robin, who’s been sitting quietly, an amused smile plastered on her face, for the entirety of the exchange. “It seems like we’re good to go, after all”.  
  
“Just you wait until he starts asking to stop for food”.  
  
The black limo that usually accompanies him to school finally pulls up, and Luffy launches himself out of the car before the driver can get off and open the door for him, like his job would require him to do. “I’ll see you later, Hachi!”, the boy shouts over his shoulder as he runs towards his friends. “ _Oi_ , guys!”  
  
The first greeting comes in the shape of Nami’s fist.

* * *

Upon arrival, the group is given all the necessary gear and protections, forced to listen to a fifteen minutes monologue detailing all the rules and only _then_ handed the keys to the field and two maps of it, one for each team. They haven’t decided who’s going to play against who _yet_ , but they convene it’ll be a random draw, so that more expert players can’t gang up on first timers, like Robin or Kaya.  
  
It’s the first time the latter has accepted to come, and the others don’t even want to begin to imagine what kind of deals Usopp had to stipulate with his girlfriend to convince her to join them today.  
  
 _Probably massages until his hands fall off_ , Nami muses as she scribbles their names on different pieces of paper, which she then folds neatly in two, mixing all the different pieces up for a little while before she lets Chopper pick one up. When he's about to open it, however, she puts a hand on his arm to stop him. “The first person Chopper calls will be in team A, the second one will be in team B and so and so forth. No swaps and no alliances between members of different teams”. She eyes Kaya and Usopp in particular, knowing they would both be awful teammates if they’re pitted against each other. “I want a fair game”.  
  
“Ok, _so_ … Zoro”, the young boy announces, and the swordsman goes to stand on one side. He picks up another piece of paper. “Sanji, you’re on team B instead”.  
  
“ _Marvelous_ ”, the blonde sings out, glaring at his rival. “Wouldn’t want to lose because of _broccoli-man_ over there”.  
  
“You just made yourself my target, _barbie_ ”, Zoro boasts, unfazed by the assumption, and his smirk only deepens when Robin’s name is the next Chopper calls out and the Vinsmoke prince gives her sad puppy eyes as she takes the spot right next to him. “Welcome to the winning team, Robin”.  
  
Unfortunately, Sanji’s depression only lasts but a moment. Nami is called next, meaning his sweet-sweet- _mellorine_ will play on his side of the field.  
  
“I’m with Zoro and Robin”, Chopper declares, moving swiftly to the fifth draw. “Luffy, you’re with Sanji and Nami”. Two more pieces, and Usopp and Franky join their respective teams.  
  
“Finally”, he exhales. Only two names are left, and he eyes the folded papers seriously before he picks up the one on the right. “Kaya, you’re with us”, he grins. “Vivi, you go with the others”.  
  
“Now that that’s all decided...”, Nami trails off, looking down at her wristwatch. No telephones are allowed inside the pitch, but she would never lose track of time. _Time is money_. “If it’s ok with you, I’d say we take ten to fifteen minutes to discuss strategies and then we can start”.

* * *

The pitch is carved into a clearing in the woods, with hiding spots derived from both the natural landscape, such as rocks, trees or dips in the ground, and objects of human craft, like stacked up tires, or small, dilapidated wooden buildings and other recycled materials. Zoro is crouched behind a blue metal barrel, having just escaped a rain of colorful paint-bullets, faintly aware of his teammates’ positions. The other team has opted for the aggressive approach and started shooting the moment their match begun, so his team, by reflection, is playing _defensively_.  
  
They are scattered over the entire length of the field, towards the front, where a red line on the ground divides the pitch in two halves. Their current goal, as agreed while they prepared, is to _bait_ their opponents. If their plan is successful and they manage to lure them out of their hiding places one by one, then it shouldn’t be too difficult for the five of them to exploit the element of surprise and strike accordingly.  
  
Luffy is an impulsive player, with a tendency to waste his ammo, so he shouldn’t be too hard to deal with, whilst Sanji refuses to shoot at women, therefore Kaya and Robin, whomever is unlucky enough to stumble upon _curly-brow_ first, have been given the task of leading him away from the rest of the group. Nami can be troublesome, because she’s just too good at calculating risks, and she’ll probably stick with one of her teammates the whole time, knowing she has a better chance at winning if she doesn’t face her opponents all by herself. Franky’s got both speed and aim, not to mention he’s a tech-enthusiast that knows exactly how to manipulate his gun in order to obtain a top performance. Finally, Vivi’s a bit of a wildcard, and an excellent team-player: if she’s given an order, she won’t give up on fulfilling it until she’s drowning in paint.  
  
In the same way, Zoro’s team has its own strengths and weaknesses. He’s not sure his expertise and steady nerves, along with Usopp’s unparalleled marksmanship, will be enough. Out of five players, two are first timers, while Chopper, as an aspiring doctor, is not too fond of pointing weapons at his friends even if they’re not real, and he’s usually the first one who gets eliminated. The sound of a twig cracking under someone’s shoes alerts him of someone’s presence behind him, but when he turns around, sweet adrenaline pumping in his veins and ready to pull the trigger, he blinks as his eyes land on Robin, who’s advancing with her hands raised, paintball rifle secured on one shoulder by its strap.  
  
“Is everything fine?”  
  
She smiles, ducking behind the barrel with him. “Cook-san has been taken care of”.  
  
“ _Good_ ”, he smirks back. It’s always a _blast_ when the idiot’s stupid chivalry turns against him. He’s about to add more, but the barrel is showered in paint-balls, with a sound so dry it seems as if they could pierce through the metal and hit them anyway. “ _Fuck_. They know we’re here”.  
  
The girl waits for the ambush to cease, then she stretches her neck outside of their cover just enough to see what’s happening on the other side, returning to her former position when yet another paintball narrowly escapes her left arm. “It seems Franky and Luffy found their way back to each other”, she notes.  
  
 _That’s not good_ , since their whole strategy is based on the old and trusted idea of _divide and conquer_ , and that means Vivi and Nami are on their own, together at worse. If they manage to get those two out of the equation, he concludes, then the odds flip tremendously in their favor. Five against two would be a true piece of cake.  
  
Unfortunately, two more shots are fired, followed by two different cries of pain. In the span of a second, they’ve lost _both_ Chopper and Kaya, heartlessly taken out of the equation by Franky.  
  
They can hear Usopp shouting promises of retaliation, but he’s nowhere within sight.  
  
Zoro glances nervously on one side, knowing that nothing good will come their way if they keep playing sitting ducks. Robin seems to pick up on that, because she takes her weapon and signals for him to go ahead. “I’ll cover for you”, she offers, confidently. “Let me deal with these two”.  
  
His first reaction is one of absolute stillness, as the green-haired boy weighs the pros and cons of her proposal. She seems oddly at ease handling the paintball gun, so she should be able to fend them off long enough for him to dispose of their other two teammates, but he can’t help wondering why that is. Did she _lie_ when she said she never played before?  
  
Eventually, the swordsman snaps out of his daze, nodding his head once at her before sprinting, retreating further into their half of the pitch so that he can change his position on the map without revealing it to the enemy. Whatever thoughts were boggling him, they are now gone. His sole focus is victory.

* * *

One hour and a half later the group of ten exits the paintball field, their clothes now unrecognizable. At the back of the line, Robin giggles quietly upon seeing the green-haired boy rubbing his victory in Sanji’s face. She ought to admit she has had a great time, and that she hopes she’ll be invited the next one.  
  
These people may be the quintessence of _bat-shit_ _crazy_ , but they sure know how to have fun, and she can’t find a single thing she doesn’t like about the group. Sure, some of their dynamics are weird, others downright concerning ( _are Zoro and Sanji even friends_ , she muses, _they certainly don’t act like it_ ), but they have been nothing but sweet and welcoming with her, and she’s finding it increasingly hard to keep her hopes down. _Was this what Saul meant when he told her she won’t be alone forever, that someday she’ll find people who’ll care for her and give her the comfort of frienship regardless of what advantages it could bring them_?  
  
“… _Oi_ , Robin”, Chopper slows down a little, falling easily into her pace. “Who taught you how to shoot?”  
  
The precision with which she hit Franky square in the chest was not missed by the people who witnessed it, namely those who were out of the game already, so more than one person stops and stretches their ears upon hearing Chopper’s question. Their curiosity makes her more self-conscious than she would like, as they all turn and look at her.  
  
“Kuzan used to bring me to the shooting range”, she shrugs, focusing her eyes on Chopper and pretending she hasn’t noticed their commitment to what’s supposedly a private conversation. “It was his idea of quality time”.   
  
“No way!”, Usopp chimes in. “Is this the same Kuzan Aokiji that gives a three-hours lecture against violence and fire-weapons in front of the school every year?”  
  
“There’s a huge difference between an inanimate target and a person, I think”.  
  
“Say, Robin”, Nami interrupts. “How _awkward_ is it, on a scale from one to _please-make-it-stop_? Aokiji being your teacher, I mean”.  
  
The raven-haired girl smiles darkly. “He used to help me with my homework when I was little, so I’m partially used to his methods. But I can’t deny _it is_ awkward, to put it in your terms”.  
  
“ _Yeah_ , I know how you feel”, sympathizes Luffy. “Dad visits the school on Founders’ Day”.  
  
Nico Robin would like to ask when that is, assuming it celebrates New Marineford’s history, which she’s dying to discover more about, but a sudden _thud_ and a rude laugh break the atmosphere, and the group turns around, spotting the six people coming out of another paintball field. “Well, well, well. Look what we have _here_ ”, their leader bows his head mockingly. “The Straw-Hat losers”.

* * *

One would think a prestigious school as New Marineford would leave no room for petty class rivalries and arrogant _thugs_ to roam freely, but truth is that competition between different classes is actively encouraged by the teachers, and the selection process doesn’t help either. The fact most students are _disgustingl_ y rich doesn’t mean that they are necessarily level-headed. If anything, there’s been more fights and vandalism in the last three years than for the past twenty, to the point the senior class, or at least its more troublesome members, has warranted the title of _worst generation_.   
  
Nami shakes her head, recognizing his voice way before her hazelnut eyes land on her ex. “What do you want, Eustass?”  
  
Luffy advances of a couple steps, acting as a physical shield between his friends and the newcomers. Kid’s usual crew is there – _Killer_ , _Apoo_ and _Basil Hawkins_ – but there’s a new addition as well, two more people who are technically in the same class as they (and Usopp and Franky) are, but who usually hang out by themselves, or with their other friends: Bepo and Trafalgar Law.  
  
“ _C’mon_ , no need to be so tense now”, Eustass smirks. “We all go to the same school, don’t we?”  
  
“That didn’t stop you from trashing Sanji’s locker, though, did it?” Nami winces as he glares up at her, but holds his gaze until he’s forced to look away.  
  
“That was an accident”, Killer joins his best friend’s side, cracking his knuckles. “ _My bad_ ”.  
  
She can feel Sanji tensing on her right side, so she grabs him by the sleeve and silently prays it’ll be enough to hold him back. No one has time for a fight. She just wishes Eustass would leave them all alone, but, _sadly_ , she has dated the guy, so she knows how stubborn he is in his pursuit of conflict. _The fucking idiot_.  
  
“We were leaving, anyway”, she articulates, slowly, hoping the others will get her message. _He’s not fucking worth it, guys._ “Bye-bye”.  
  
“Not so fast, _sweetie_ ”, Killer snickers. “We’re just here to talk”.  
  
Nami rolls her eyes. Apoo and Basil stand idly by the side, looking uncomfortable, but ultimately they are too cowardly to take a stance against their leader, whilst Law just looks plain bored and Bepo as if he’s about to faint any minute now. The latter is quite famous for his inherent goodness, so in the end it’s not too surprising he wouldn’t deny a chance at friendship even to someone as problematic as Eustass.  
  
“That’s too bad”, says Zoro, now mirroring Killer’s stance next to Luffy. He’s been in enough fights to know that things can escalate very quickly from now on. He doesn't like violence outside of the dojo, but he'll never refuse to help if his friends are being threatened. “I’m afraid there’s nothing we’ve got to say to _you_ ”.  
  
The over-tattooed henchman makes to lounge for him, but Kid grabs him by the collar, pulling him back into his place. He whispers something in his ear Nami can’t quite understand, and after staring long and hard into Luffy’s unwavering eyes the two of them finally start retreating back to their car, followed by Apoo and Hawkins, who smile apologetically before subtly waving their hands at them.  
  
“Are you okay, _Bepo_?”  
  
The white-haired boy is very pale, but with cheeks as red as the sun, and Chopper instantly sprints to his side, worried about his friend. The two have grown close over their shared interest in medicine and many afternoons spent together in the library, along with Trafalgar Law. While his relationship with the latter is way less solid, he’s still a bit disappointed in seeing him associating with someone like Eustass Kid. He has never talked about him in positive terms, so the move seems a bit... _hypocritical_ on his part.  
  
Then again, only a blind person wouldn’t notice the major changes Law has undergone since last year. It’s like he’s an entirely different person, burdened and disconnected.  
  
“ _I’m_ … I’m fine”, Bepo sighs. He looks up to where his classmates are disappearing inside of their car, then turns to his best friend. “I really _don’t_ like those guys”.  
  
Law can’t really argue with that. He’s gone along with this because Eustass is usually _good business_ , but demand for his product is simply too high for him to deal with the headaches he causes.  
  
“Do you need a ride home?”, Chopper urges him.  
  
“It’ll be fine, Chopper- _ya_. We came here with separate cars”.  
  
Kid’s car pulls off in that moment, speeding right next to them and raising an exaggerated amount of dust and dirt. He flips them off with his left hand before he disappears.  
  
Franky’s eyes narrow at his plate. “He’s the _bastard_ who did that crazy overtake earlier!”

* * *

“…Don’t hesitate to- _yum_ ”, Luffy huffs, stuffing his face with fries and onion rings. He has finished his second burger not too long ago, but eats as if he hasn’t seen food in a decade _still_. “Tell me- _yum-yum,_ if Jaggy bothers you again”.   
  
Upon returning to New Marineford, he, Sanji and Nami have separated from the others, and now his friends are waiting for him to finish his lunch, their trays already empty.  
  
The blond would normally lecture him on the thousands of cancerous ingredients his meal probably contains, but not today. Whilst he usually refuses to eat anywhere he doesn’t personally know the chef, not that he would expect to find one in such a _wretched_ place, his mind is focused on something else entirely right now. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’ll probably happen again.  
  
Hell, even _moss-head_ probably has enough brain-cells to reach this same conclusion, and that says _a lot_. Growing up with the Vinsmokes of all people, Sanji knows how _bullies_ typically reason, and that Eustass and his crew won’t be giving up anytime soon, not until they clash with a _bigger_ bully than they are. Only the thought makes him nauseous. The fact he _can_ hurt someone doesn’t mean he wants to do so, but if they try to back his friends into a corner, something that doesn’t exactly seem to be beyond them, Sanji can’t guarantee he’ll be able to stop himself.  
  
 _Not_ punching Kid the other night has already taken up an amount of restraint he wasn’t aware he possessed.   
  
“We all know that he will”, Nami sighs. She feels guilty about the whole ordeal. She’s the one who has brought Eustass into their lives, after all. Even if it’s not her responsibility that he’s still so obsessed with her over one year after their breakup, she can’t help it but repeat inwardly that none of this would be happening, if only her past self wasn’t so _stupid_. “I’m so sorry, everyone”.  
  
Sanji whips his head around to look at her. “ _None_ of this is your fault, Nami- _swan_ ”.  
  
“Sanji’s right”, grins Luffy, gulping down the last of his lunch. “You two were together, now you’re not. If he can’t accept it, that’s _entirely_ on him”.  
  
 _He treated you like shit_ , _anyway_ – Sanji thinks, but he knows better than to say it out loud. He was there, the proverbial shoulder to cry on, when Nami’s heart broke into a thousand pieces.  
  
“I just wish he would leave us alone”, she insists. “It’s our senior year, for _fuck_ ’s sake. We should worry about planning the rest of our lives, not some _jerk_ who thinks it’s cool to trash other people’s property”.  
  
“Well, _technically_ the locker belongs to the school”, he points out. She seems more upset about it than he is, which is odd, considering it’s _his_ dead mother that they verbally assaulted. “I’m sure Principal Sengoku won’t let it slide”.  
  
“Akainu looked pretty _pissed_ , too”, contributes Luffy.  
  
“He’s an _asshole_ , but at least he’s a _fair_ one”, Nami mutters. “He _won’t_ let this slide. Unfortunately, it was Killer who _technically_ vandalized school’s property…”  
  
“What kind of grudge could he possibly hold against Sanji?”  
  
The orange-haired girl rolls her eyes. Sometimes Luffy can be so _naïve_. Or _rather_ , he knows so little about romance that sometimes he fails to understand people’s _motives_ unless they’re laid out plainly for him to see. Back when she was dating Eustass, Nami got quite close with his inner circle, so, aided by her excellent spirit of observation, she gathered sensible information about pretty much every single one of them. Even though the breakup was terrible, up until today she has always kept their secrets and withdrew from her own friends stories than would have had them rolling on the floor out of laughter. She did it out of basic respect, but the time she spent with them has taught her one thing above anything else, and that is that they are mean and careless, probably _damaged_ beyond repair.  
  
When it comes to her friends’ and her own safety, only one option is truly feasible. “In case being Eustass’ best friend and an infamous sociopath isn’t enough…”, she trails off, “…There is also the small matter of Sanji _stealing_ his date to prom last spring”.   
  
Sanji sputters. “ _Viola_?!”

* * *

“…This was more fun than I expected”. Only the two of them are left in the parking lot, and Zoro stands by idly as the raven-haired girl fidgets with the under-seat of her bike. She has her hair tied up in a ponytail, the tip of her right ear smeared in blue paint. There’s a small, understated smile on her lips, _so_ _pretty_ he finds himself mirroring it.  
  
“I’m glad to hear that”, he rebukes. It’s not very much like him to go out of his way to make the new student feel accepted. Although one could argue he welcomed Chopper as part of the group pretty much the moment he met him, negating the fundamental difference between the two experiences would be a blatant lie.  
  
He has never wondered how kissing Chopper ( _with tongue_ ) would feel like, after all.  
  
Robin eventually produces a book and hands it to him. “Here’s your sequel. I’m not sure you’ll _like_ it, but you’ll probably have _strong feelings_ about it. I definitely do”.  
  
The boy accepts the proffered volume and looks down at the cover. An older looking version of the protagonist holds the katana he found at the end of the first book, on whose handle are carved small sakura petals in the same pattern that now covers his left shoulder. _Awakening of the Lord Commander_. “Thank you, Robin”.  
  
“ _Anytime_. I'd like to know what you think about it, when you're done”.  
  
Their motorcycles are parked right next to one another, so they go through the process of retrieving their helmets. Since there’s only one reason to linger ( _he wants to_ ), Zoro gets ready to leave. She probably has better things to do with her time than listening to his rambles about a book he is getting unexpectedly obsessed with. Or maybe it’s _talking to her_ that he’s becoming addicted to.   
  
Either way, he should go before he slips and says something he will regret.  
  
“ _Err_ , I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school”, he mumbles before securing the helmet on his head.  
  
“Enjoy the rest of your evening, Zoro”.  
  
When he gets home, he barely makes it through the door before he picks up the book, stumbling into a confused Perona on his way upstairs.  
  
She swears she can’t remember the last time she’s seen Zoro reading. _And for his own leisure, no less._

* * *

“ _Viola_?!”  
  
Sanji is looking at her as if she has grown another head, while Luffy is still none the wiser. Her theory is based entirely on speculation, of course, but she has enough reasons to believe Killer was deeply – maybe still is – in love with Dressrosa's princess, and that Sanji’s recent opposition to Eustass is only fueling the much more personal grudge he might be holding against him.  
  
 _Mind you_ , he never made a step in that direction in the three years he has been in the same class as the dark-haired girl, and that she and Sanji have gone to prom together and nothing more, because they are apparently _incompatible_ – yes, she believes this is the word he used.  
  
“ _Yup_ ”, she nods. “I can’t tell for sure, but he looked at her an awful lot, and he was generally less of a _dick_ whenever she was involved, which at the time I thought was weird. But Killer’s motive is not what I’m concerned about. Eustass won’t be punished until he dirties his own hands, and, even then, he has plenty of people who would _lie_ for him. I don’t want him getting caught if it means that one of us gets hurt”.   
  
“No one will be hurt, Nami”, Luffy promises, sensing her genuine concern. “I won’t let it happen”.  
  
“ _We_ won’t let it happen”, Sanji corrects him. “Let’s not turn them into a bigger threat than they really are”. Her friends don’t seem too bothered by the eventuality of a skirmish with Eustass’ crew, so for today she lets the thought slip to the back of her mind for later re-examination. There’s no need to fret over what’s only a possibility.  
  
As long as they don’t engage with them, they should be fine. Or so she hopes.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Nami”, Luffy shakes his head. “Grandpa’s back, so he asked us all to be home for dinner”.  
  
“What about you, Sanji-kun?”  
  
“I’m covering for one of the chefs at the Baratie tonight”, he mumbles. “Sorry”.  
  
“It’s _ok_ ”, Nami sighs. Nojiko’s still out of town, but it seems she’ll have to deal with it. “I guess I’ll catch up with TV shows or something”.  
  
Texting any of the others and coming up with a valid excuse to hang out would require too much effort, anyway.  
  
Among the people she’s the closest with and that could be free tonight, detached from previous engagements, there’s only Zoro left. He may not be the most _exciting_ company out there, but they’ve been friends since they were kids and it’s been a long time since they did something just the two of them.  
  
Luffy waves wildly as he walks the distance between the fast-food and Ace’s car, while the other two slowly walk their way towards Sanji’s.  
  
The drive back to New Marineford is quiet. They would normally argue over who should pick out the music until he eventually caves and lets her have her way, but the radio remains silent for the whole drive, and they barely exchange a couple of words. The silence may be unusual, but it’s not awkward. They both have a lot on her minds, more concerned about what happened at the paintball field than they’re willing to admit. They seat completely still longer than five minutes even after they park in front of Nami’s house.  
  
Her phone starts ringing just then, and eventually she starts to make her way out of the vehicle. Absent-mindedly, or rather pulled by an unknown force, she leans in and plants a feather-light kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sanji-kun”.  
  
She has disappeared inside the house before he can even react, but she can still see him through the window as he holds a hand to that same cheek and smiles like an idiot before he finally starts the engine and leaves. Nami has never told him, but she’s kind of glad things between him and Viola didn’t work out.

* * *

> **17** : **08** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Pizza and movies?_   
>   
> **17** : **13** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _What happened?_   
>   
> **17** : **13** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Eh?_   
>   
> **17** : **15** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Fine. 7 p.m.?_   
>   
> **17** : **16** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Perfect. See you later_.   
>   
> **17** : **17** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Make sure there’s sake, witch_.   
>   
> **17** : **19** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _I hate you_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short notes this time, but I hope this update finds you well. 💗
> 
> 1\. I'll start adding the side-pairings, but in the notes. I wouldn't want people to excitedly open the Kaya/Usopp tag, get their hopes up and then discover they're just a side pairing. I'll put Franky/Iceburg there, too, since you now know who's the guy from the club. I'm very excited for the Franky/Iceburg, although it'll have a very minor role and it'll be angsty for quite some time. You guys like angst, right?
> 
> 2\. I made Basil and Apoo ships because (*spoiler*) I am so fucking disappointed with them in manga. Honestly, _fuck them_. Our Torao was there because they are clients, but I don't think Bepo will agree to hang out with them again very soon. 
> 
> 3\. The bold "time tag" thing at the top is there because when I started writing I didn't know if I was actually going to publish, and even if I did, I couldn't possibly tell with which frequency. For now I'm fast because I have many chapters already written, but you never know. In case it takes some time between one update and the other, this way you don't have to go back to figure out where we are. If there's nothing there, it means the new chapter picks up directly from where we left off. 
> 
> 4\. I... I really hope you noticed what I did there with the sakura petals on the katana... I was kinda proud of that when I wrote it, lmao. There's little easter eggs from canon everywhere because... why not. 
> 
> 5\. As you have probably already figured out, chapter titles are songs. Either because I think the title fits or I like the song. Eustass was listening to this one when he was speeding and almost caused the accident. Yeah, he's _that_ guy. Also, I really like Nicki Minaj. 
> 
> Short notes, I said, uh.  
> Just know every one of you who reads, comments or leaves kudos gives me heaps of serotonine, so... yeah. Thank you. 💗


	5. Edge of Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Nami is a meddlesome friend, the Straw-Hats recruit new members and Basil Hawkins turns eighteen.

“…You worry too much”, Zoro repeats for the umpteenth time. “They know that if they come after _dart-brow_ , they’re coming after all of us”.  
  
It’s not like Nami to get so anxious over the empty threats of cocky schoolmates, but they’ve been going at it for over an hour now, and he still hasn’t managed to convince her that everything will be fine, and no one will dare lay a hand on the _idiot_ , less than anyone Eustass Kid. He may be rich and important, but so is pretty much everyone else at school.  
  
He’s bound to know that there _will_ be consequences if he truly attempts at another student’s well-being.  
  
“Then why did you guys didn’t want to tell us what they wrote on his locker?”  
  
She has a fair point here, but truth is they didn’t tell the others out of respect for Sanji. If he doesn’t want them to know, Zoro doesn’t want to be the one that brings it up.  
  
“You should ask Sanji about that”. He rarely ever calls the ero-cook by name, it’s a serious conscious effort that he makes in the hope Nami will understand his discomfort, and finally drop it. She can be quite persistent when she feels like it.  
  
“Maybe I will”, she scowls at him, but she does let it go. “Are you going to Basil’s party next week?”  
  
He forgot about that. With everything else he has been thinking about lately, social events are at the bottom of the list. He told Hawkins he would go when he invited him the other day, but is that really a sensible choice after what has happened today? Kid and his crew will surely be there.  
  
“I haven’t decided yet”, he shares. “Guess I’ll see what the others do”.  
  
“ _Mh_ ”. Nami picks up another slice of pizza. “ _Robin_ said she’ll go”.  
  
Zoro almost chokes on the mozzarella cheese. “Robin?”, he feigns indifference. “Didn’t think she knew him”.  
  
“She _doesn’t_ , actually. He just approached us the other day after chemistry, introduced himself and invited her to his birthday party”, she shrugs. “But she’s new here, it’ll be a great occasion for her to meet new people and make some friends”.  
  
Her words are carefully measured, and Nami observes his reaction discreetly, out of the corner of her right eye. Her green-haired friend has been acting peculiarly since the beginning of school and she has a pretty solid guess as to what’s been making him so flustered as of recently. Or better, _who_.  
  
Nico Robin isn’t just a raven-haired beauty and easily one of the best-looking people in New Marineford (that girl has cheek dimples, for _fuck_ ’s sake), with long, jet-black hair and a tall, soft figure; she’s also very serious, passionate about the things she likes and believes. It’s not every day you see Zoro so interested in someone outside of his small inner circle – he barely speaks to Vivi and they’ve been classmates for years now – but she has caught him red-handed on multiple occasions, staring in awe at her every movement when he thinks nobody is watching.   
  
“You’re probably right”, he notes, stiffly. “Not sure Basil Hawkins is the best this school has to offer, though”.  
  
“He and Apoo did not participate in whatever Eustass was trying to pull off today”, Nami counters. As much as she doesn’t appreciate their lack of action, it’s equally wrong to pin on them things other people have done. Besides, she won’t fall for such a simplistic technique. How can Zoro think she won’t notice the desperate attempt at diverting her attention is beyond her. “I don’t think he’ll let him boss people around in his own home, or Killer for that matter”, she adds. “Especially if he’s trying to impress our new friend Robin”.  
  
His left eye has an odd twitch. “ _Right_ ”, he grunts. “I hope he doesn’t annoy her too much. He doesn’t seem like he’s her type, anyway”.  
  
“ _Oh_ ”, Nami squeals. _Bingo_ – she has a winner. “Whatever would _you_ know about her type?”  
  
Zoro is barely able to hide his discomfort, as testified by the redness of his face, but he keeps as much of an impassive face as possible as he glares at her. “Just saying she’s out of his league”. _Or mine_.  
  
“I can’t really argue with that”, she chuckles. Reaching behind the sofa, Nami produces a glass bottle and two small sake cups. She pours out two drinks, hands him one and smirks knowingly at him before gulping down her own in one seat. “I suppose _you_ ’d be a much better fit, _mh_?”   
  
The look on Zoro’s face is absolutely priceless, she laughs so hard she almost falls from the sofa.

* * *

He cannot believe his ears. Someone please tell him it’s a _joke_. What is Nami accusing him of, _exactly_?  
  
 _I suppose you’d be a much better fit, mh?_  
  
Part of him lowkey wants to scream that _yes, yes he would_ , or at least he would be better than Basil _fucking_ Hawkins, but a much bigger part feels ashamed at the thought, and completely _inappropriate_ , so Zoro drowns a bitter laugh in his sake-cup. “Even an inanimate object would”, he snorts. “I don’t know much about her, but I would have to _hate_ her to wish someone like Hawkins on her”.  
  
His voice doesn’t falter on her name as he has feared, and he mentally pats himself on the back.  
  
“ _Yeah, yeah_. I know what you mean”, his friend seems to relent, pouring two more cups. “She’s so beautiful, though, it’s a surprise no one has asked her out _yet_ ”.  
  
 _Here it goes again_ , the familiar heat burning at the top of his cheeks, but this time he decides to embrace it, drinks his second cup of sake and decides he’ll just pin the current state of his face on the alcohol if need be. “ _Mh-mh_ ”. He looks up, down, at everything _but_ Nami. “A big surprise, _indeed_ ”.   
  
Only it’s _not_ , because he has some solid guesses as to why people at school might feel _intimidated_ by her. You don’t ask out _girls like Robin_ unless you’re at least one-hundred percent sure. Beyond the ravishing appearance and kindness, she seems like the kind of person that would make you _regret_ wasting their time, and _hard_. The _getting-her-hold-on-your-whole-brain-and-becoming-your-only_ - _thought-until-you-inevitable-implode_ strain of hard.   
  
“Well, someone’s bound to step up to the challenge, _eventually_ ”, Nami continues, unaware of the surge of sheer anger and frustration that washes over him upon hearing her words. “Who _succeeds_ , however, is an entirely different matter, I suppose. She’s anything _but_ conventional”.  
  
It's unusual of his orange-haired friend to be so vocal in her praise of a new acquaintance – when she first met Kaya, she went on and on for weeks about _how that girl didn’t convince her_ – and Zoro can’t help but wonder if it’s because she truly has connected with Robin faster than she normally would, and it’s genuine admiration that’s prompting her words, or because she’s noticed something is not quite right and she’s trying to mess with him and trap him into a confession of some kind. Maybe it’s a little bit of _both_. Nami never does, says or thinks _nothing_ _for nothing_.  
  
“… _Anyway_ , I’m glad she ended up in _our_ class”, she continues, when it’s clear he has no intention of acknowledging her previous statement. “She’s a great addition to our group, _too_ ”.  
  
He taps his finger on the edge of his glass. He is glad they have met Nico Robin as well.  
  
 _But surely that goes without saying_? _What does Nami expects from me_? _If she wants to indulge in sappy talk, then she has known for quite some time now that Sanji is her best option. Unless…_  
  
“ _Ne_ , Nami”, he smirks, snatching the bottle of sake and taking a long sip directly from it. “Let me guess _. Curly-brow_ was busy tonight, wasn’t he?”

* * *

> **00** : **05** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _@catburglar added @thedemonchild_   
>   
> **00** : **06** \- @ **tonytonychopper**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Welcome to the family, Robin!_ 💖   
>   
> **00** : **06** \- @ **kayaintheskywithdiamonds**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Hello!_ 🌺  
>   
>  **00** : **07** \- @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _hi!_   
>   
> **00** : **09** \- @ **godusopp**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _…so I bravely stepped up and fought the wild dog myself_.   
> _oh, hey, robin! Sorry, I didn’t see you there._ 😅  
>   
>  **00** : **09** \- @ **supercalafragilisticexpialidocious**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Suuuuuper!_   
>   
> **00** : **09** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Welcome!_ 🥰  
>   
>  **00** : **11** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Thank you, everyone._  
>  _May I ask why the straw hat?_   
>   
> **01** : **30** \- @ **chef's-kiss**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Forgive me, I’m unforgivably late. My sincerest welcome, Robin-chwan!_ 🥳  
>  _Straw Hats is the name of our team. I’ll be happy to tell you more about it first thing tomorrow morning._   
>   
> **06** : **37** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _For Sakazuki it was exercises 15-21, pag. 18, right?_   
>   
> **07** : **59** \- @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _There was… homework?_   
>   
> **08** : **01** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _Two hours of it, you moron._   
> _Now hurry up and get your ass to class, Akainu looks very unhappy and we all know how that ends._   
> _You can copy mine for a friendly 3000 belies_.   
>   
> **08** : **02** \- @ **godusopp**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _How is that friendly?_ 😒  
>   
>  **08** : **03** \- @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ **Straw Hats** ”:  
>  _@catburglar deal_ 🤗🤗🤗 

* * *

Professor Sakazuki glares at his wristwatch as the seconds tick by one by one.  
  
Painstakingly aware of the empty seat next to Roronoa Zoro, _the bane of his existence_ has only half a minute to barge through the door, so that if by some miracle he is late, with the current pace he’ll be able to ask for a suspension before the Christmas break. The school has very strict policies on tardiness in place, and _man_ , _doesn’t he love making sure they are respected_ , but even then, nothing for him, academically speaking, surpasses the pleasure of turning Monkey D. Luffy’s high school experience into a complete _nightmare_.  
  
He's taught both the other Monkey D. brothers before, hated them with the same passion, but he was not vice-principal when the other two _brats_ still attended New Marineford, while he is _now_ that the youngest one still does. Whilst mostly indifferent towards the majority of students he’s ever had, there’s something about their arrogance and _holier-than-thou_ attitude which really makes his blood boil.  
  
Sakazuki picks up his pen, ready to sign him off as absent, but the door suddenly opens before he even gets the chance to open his register. The bell rings just as the dark-haired student sits down next to the _other_ green-haired _punk_. It would seem everyone has showed up today in the end, something which any sensible teacher would be happy about, but not _him_.  
  
His mood brightens up a little when he a wicked idea pops in his mind: he can’t punish them for things they haven’t technically done, that’s true, but there ought to be _casualties_ if he interrogates the class on last year’s curricula without any previous warning.  
  
The professor smirks. He produces from his pocket the dice with sixteen faces all his students know and fear, relishing in the wave of collective despair that overwhelms the class. He can see his better students brace themselves, mentally trying to recollect the hardest, more difficult topics they have treated towards the end of last year, while others resort to a religious faith they generally don’t possess.  
  
“Mr. Lucci, if you’ll _please_ come to the blackboard”. 

* * *

The door closes behind the teacher’s back at the end of two painstakingly long hours.  
  
“That was a _massacre_ ”, Sanji pipes up as soon as he’s out.  
  
He has been lucky enough to be saved by the dice, his surname locating him at the very end of the list, but many of his classmates not so much so, especially since the general poor performances have allowed Akainu to stop many interrogations quite fast and test an impressive amount of people. Many have perished under his questions and now have a negative mark they need to fix.  
  
“I can’t believe I just lost three-thousand belies because of that little stunt”, mutters Nami, who has somehow managed to return to her seat with the usual A. “People like him shouldn’t be professors. He absolutely hates our guts”.  
  
“Was he always like this? Or does he hold a particular grudge against this class?”, asks Robin, genuine confused by the nasty treatment she has just received.  
  
She is among the people whose name was called, and while she has held her head high and answered most of the teacher’s questions, he still voiced many assumptions she does not agree with, the most recurring being that the education she has previously received couldn’t possibly match the one offered in New Marineford, and therefore she’ll be “ _handicapped_ ” ( _his_ words, not hers) for the remainder of her senior year.  
  
“I don’t think there’s a student he _likes_ ”, says Zoro. “Well, except for _CP9_ , but he’s their sponsor, so I'm not sure it counts”.  
  
“What’s CP9? He’s their sponsor for what?”  
  
“ _Ah_ , right. I promised I’d unveil the mystery behind the straw hat for you, didn’t I?”, Sanji slides smoothly, or so he thinks, into the conversation. “Every year, we compete as a team in a series of challenges against other students. The final stage of the tournament coincides with Founders’ Day, and the prizes are usually awarded by some big shots who graduated from here”.  
  
“Some of the teams go back to the foundation of New Marineford”, Nami supplies. “There’s nothing particular relevant about them, only that over the years people continuously joined, and therefore they were never disbanded. We are the _Straw-Hats_ and Luffy’s our _captain_ , even though most of the time he doesn’t act like it. This year, it's our last chance to win”.  
  
“I see”, she blinks, processing the information as fast as she could. She can’t recall the Institute in Alabasta having similar traditions, but then again, even if it did, Robin wouldn’t have paid much attention to it. “What kind of games do you play? Is it like a chess tournament or…?”  
  
“Well, it depends”, Chopper chimes in. “The challenges are different every year, and they try to keep them balanced, so that we use both our bodies and our brains. It’s a bit like yesterday, only you have to solve some kind of riddle to get a paintball”.  
  
The girl smiles at that. _She likes riddles_. Whether her skillset would be useful she doesn’t know, but she’s willing to do her best to help them, if they’ll have her, like adding her to their chat-group might be hinting at. “That’s actually a very good example, Chopper”, she thanks him. “I think my ideas are a bit clearer now”.  
  
“I bet you’d _smash_ the history contest, if they give us another one”, mutters Zoro, who has lost many points in said contest two years ago and is clearly still bitter about it.  
  
The vote of confidence makes her blush. “I’d be happy to help you win, if I can”.  
  
“You should be happy to help _us_ win, Robin”, Luffy corrects her, with a grin from ear to ear. “If you join us, then it’s as much your victory as it’s ours. As the captain, _please, join us_ ”.   
  
Further conversation on the topic is cut short as Caesar Clown enters the classroom, but Nico Robin maintains her good mood all the way throughout the slowest, most boring chemistry lesson she’s ever had. There’s something special about this group and its straw-hat enthusiast captain, she firmly believes. No one among her peers has ever bothered showing her _acceptance_ before.

* * *

Over lunch that day news start spreading of the Straw-Hats try-outs, so when the moment finally arrives later in the afternoon, and all nine official members plus their sponsor meet in the gym to examine the potential candidates, there’s more people waiting for them than they have been expecting.  
  
They sit on the stands, leaving Luffy and Nami, who may not be the captain but is definitely the team’s _manager_ , the ominous task of greeting the participants and detail how the selection will be made.  
  
Unlike CP9, or really any team besides this one, the physical part is relatively easy to pass for any teenager who’s not affected by a chronical health condition, and even then, Luffy’s first and foremost criteria is one’s eagerness, to the point he’d let even a blind cat join the team if only it expressed the wish to participate.   
  
Nami is halfway through her long, introductory speech of the rules they’ve set for the tryouts, meaning that anyone who plays dirty is automatically out, but she’s interrupted by a blond boy with very long hair, who gingerly offers his hand to Luffy and flashes him a 24K smile, ignoring her completely. She doesn’t like this guy already.  
  
“..:Allow me to introduce myself”, he announces with a small pirouette. “Name’s Cavendish, and I’m here to shed the glorious light of victory upon the Straw-Hats”.  
  
The captain scratches the back of his head, startled by his antics, but eventually he takes the proffered hand and smiles at the newcomer. “I like your enthusiasm, _Caroline_. I’m Luffy, nice to meet you”.  
  
Nami has to bite her tongue very hard not to laugh at his outraged expression, but just as Cavendish is about to retaliate, red as a tomato, someone else finds it fitting to join in the madness, and eventually she can’t no longer contain herself.  
  
“ _Luffy-senpai_!” The cringeworthy, desperate cry comes from a boy with green hair and a weird rooster haircut who throws himself at a confused Luffy’s feet, reaching up to hug his legs. “Luffy- _senpai_!”, he repeats. “Thank you for blessing me with the opportunity to be your faithful servant”, he announces, proudly. “I’ll do my best or kill myself if I disappoint you”.  
  
 _Cough-cough_.  
  
Cavendish awkwardly pats his shoulder as if it could give him some dangerous disease, looking down at him with incredible contempt. “Excuse me, _sir_ ”, he mocks him. “I wasn’t quite finished”.  
  
However, the green-haired boy ignores him. He gets back on his feet instead, eyes still locked on Luffy’s childish grin. He points a finger at his face. “Bartolomeo”, he says. “At your service”.  
  
“Good luck with the tryout, _Bartolomeo_ ”, the other replies. “I hope you’ll make it to the team”.  
  
Then the captain addresses the rest of the participants, in a strange display of organizational and time-management skills. “There’s two steps to the selection process. At first, you’ll be required to run a couple laps and play some games to test your physical abilities, then you’ll have a little chat with some of us. The results will be pinned on the students’ board somewhere between Thursday and Friday. For any doubts or any further inquiries, you can ask Nami”.  
  
The orange-haired girl immediately stops laughing, and glares at his retreating back instead.  
  
Her murderous thoughts are probably mirrored by her facial expression, because no one dares raising their hand, or asks any question. She almost feels sorry for them. _Almost_.

* * *

“…based on speed, endurance and _undeniably_ good looks, I believe I’d be the best addition your team can hope for. Not only I will increase your _fanbase_ and _social media_ resonance overall, but my _unprecedented_ physical prowess will compensate for the evident lack some of the less _virtuous_ members are sporting…”  
  
Zoro blinks at the likes of… _Cavendish_ , that the name on the list, startled by his choices of language, and the strange way he regards himself as _automatically_ better than people he has never met.  
  
He may be boosting about his popularity, but they have gone to the same school for four years and this is the first time he ever hears of him.  
  
He doesn’t like him, especially the way he looks at Chopper, who’s doing the interview with him, as he pronounces the last part, but truth is that based on purely technical reasons he’s one of the best candidates they have, or at least one of the less tragical. He's afraid they’ll be forced to give this _idiot_ a chance.

* * *

“…I haven’t really made many friends yet, so I was hoping getting involved in extra-curricular activities would help me feel a little more at home. It’s my _f_ -first experience out of Dressrosa..:”  
  
Usopp smiles up at the pink-haired girl they’re interviewing.  
  
He too has signed up for the Straw-Hats on his first year, after discovering the boarding school is attended by more locals than one would imagine. His first few months in New Marineford he struggled to find people he could connect to, and he wishes someone would have offered him a friendly hand the same way they are now doing with Robin.  
  
He decides he’ll be that person for the young girl, and hopefully it’ll be enough to convince her to buy his _God Usopp Mixtape_ when it’s finally released.  
  
 _God knows the rap industry needs more female inputs_.

* * *

“…We are not taking _him_ ”, declares Vivi. “I wouldn’t feel safe around that guy”.  
  
Franky wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “I wonder what he feels the need to _compensate_ for…?”.   
  
Kaya would love nothing more than restoring some much needed order, but she can’t stop the giggle that escapes her mouth, and she joins the other two in their amusement.  
  
“We’re not taking him”, she repeats when her laughter subsides, crossing his name from her list.

* * *

“…Let me start by saying I’m honored to meet Luffy-senpai’s friends, and in the same day I meet Luffy- _senpai_! _This is the best day of my life_! If you’ll let me, I have a small poem written for the occasion…”  
  
Sanji doesn’t know what to think of this guy, other than his devotion feels weird and it’s rubbing him off the wrong way. Or maybe it’s just the _hundred_ compliments he has already paid to Nami.  
  
She does look lovely today, but it’s up to him, her self-appointed _knight-in-shining-armour_ to do so.  
  
“He’s a bit crazy, isn’t he?”, Nami whispers, covering her mouth with a hand so that green-haired boy won’t hear him.  
  
Not that she needs to, since Bartolomeo is now busy reciting his poem. For something titled “ _Ode to the Straw-Hats_ ”, the word “ _fuck_ ” is a strangely recurring element.  
  
Sanji deadpans. “Crazier than _moss-head_ ’s sense of orientation”. 

* * *

“… _So_ , Rebecca, Bartolomeo and Cavendish are in”, Usopp summarizes two days later, when the Straw-Hats are gathering at the boys’ apartment before Basil Hawkins’ birthday party. “Everyone else’s out”.  
  
In the end they have decided they will all attend the event and pretend nothing happened with the rival crew, hoping it’ll be enough to spare them any forward harassment. He’s personally _not_ looking forward to a direct confrontation with Eustass and his friends, it’s bad enough he’s forced to see their ugly faces every morning. Luckily for Usopp they have not redirected their sudden hate for Sanji to him, who’s in their same class and a much easier target, but he’d still rather have the two different groups at peace, with his choice of college and making the most out of his senior year as his only serious preoccupations.  
  
“Three more is not bad”, says Luffy, who has voted against very few candidates. Well, _one_ , actually, the one Vivi, Kaya and Franky have been adamant wasn’t worth their attention. “We can still get more people along the way”.  
  
The first match of the tournament is scheduled for Halloween, where they’ll face another team for access to the semi-finals. He’ll do his best to ensure they’re one of the crews still standing at the end of it.  
  
“We should know who we’re up against in the first half of October”, notes Zoro, who sincerely hopes the tournament won’t interfere with his kendo engagements. He has a couple of competitions scheduled for the near future, and while technically the dates are the same every year, he can’t be sure until they are made official through the press release. “We can move forward from that”.  
  
“I hope it’s not CP9”, notes Usopp with a sigh. “It’s bad enough they are the defending champions and half the school is rooting for them”.  
  
“Don’t worry, babe”, Kaya gently pats the back of his hand. “I’m sure we’ll do great. Get us some intel on Kid and his group, will you? The _Revolutionary Army_ is not to be taken lightly either”.  
  
“I can’t believe Eustass is in the same group as your brother”, Nami says, eyeing her captain. “Poor Sabo, knowing such _scumbags_ have replaced him and his friends”.   
  
“Oh, I don’t think Sabo would mind”, Luffy replies, thoughtfully. “Ace was absolutely wrecked when the _Whitebeards_ were disbanded after he graduated, and if you don’t believe me, try and ask Marco how he feels about it the next time you’re at the Nest”.  
  
“It makes sense when you put it like that”, the ginger admits, albeit grudgingly. “I agree with Kaya, though. They surely won’t have a rule that forbids them from playing dirty”.  
  
“Not to mention they have Professor Kuma as their mentor”, Chopper chimes in. “The RA won the tournament four years in a row when he was a student”.  
  
Robin looks up from her phone. “You shouldn’t underestimate Brook. It says in here that he was the captain of his own team forty years ago, and the sole reason they were able to win”.  
  
Many google searches are started all at once.  
  
“ _Yeah_? Look here”, Usopp points at _his_ screen. “Look what it says of Akainu. Three MVP medals. _Three!_ ”  
  
An alarm on Nami’s smartphone tells them it’s time to wrap it up and head to Basil’s house. She waits for Hachi to return from the bathroom, and kindly asks him if he can start up the car for them.  
  
Their numbers have for once made the limo the most sensible choice, not to mention the birthday boy’s house is up on the hills, in one of the fanciest neighborhoods of Grand Line City, so she doubts they would be even allowed access to his property if they showed up in anything less than a ridiculously expensive car.  
  
Vivi marches up to her side as she’s putting on her coat, and empathetically squeezes her arm.  
  
“Let the show begin, _hm_? We won’t let _him_ bother you”.  
  
“Like hell we will”, Sanji is immediately by her other side, offering his arm to escort her outside.  
  
After the experience at the nightclub she is dreading being in the same room as Eustass in the context of a party, but she feels a bit safer knowing they’re watching her back. Nami doesn’t know what she has done to deserve such great friends, but it’s probably _not enough_. 

* * *

Anything that’s under his control has been taken care of, or delegated to one of his friends, so all that is left for Basil Hawkins to do, as he waits for the bulk of his guests to arrive, is to open his presents and sincerely thank his inner circle for the thoughtfulness of their gifts while taking a mental note to exchange them for a gift-card later. They should know by now that the only material he finds acceptable for shirts is _silk_.  
  
His best friend Apoo, or “ _Dj Scratchman_ ”, as the internet knows him, is already behind the console, setting up a mood and a playlist on his laptop, whilst the others are quietly scattered on the Rochester-sofas his mother is so obsessed with, the darkness of their boots and attire creating a stark contrast with the pearly white, weaved cotton of the furniture’s fabric.  
  
His parents probably won’t mind if the house gets _trashed_ , as long as he calls for the cleaning service tomorrow, but the birthday boy still wants everyone to be on their best behavior. It’s _his_ party, they are celebrating _his_ birth. He doesn’t want all the attention to be sucked up by some drama.  
  
“People will start showing up in one hour or so…”, he trails off, pausing to take a sip from his glass of wine. When he’s sure he’s being listened to, his blue eyes immediately set on Kid. “…I trust that if you had a problem with my guest-list you would have told me so by now”.  
  
Eustass seems to pick up on the subtle warning, because he grins widely and raises his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. “Your house and your party, _bro_ ”, he exclaims. “We won’t cause you any trouble”.  
  
Sitting on his right, Killer grunts. “Where’s Law, anyway?”  
  
He looks impatient, and he’s been checking his telephone every other minute, so Basil doesn’t really need to fetch his tarots to know what he’s so eagerly waiting for.  
  
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon”.  
  
While technically no one except his best friend Bepo is granted the privilege of knowing beforehand whether Trafalgar Law will show up to a party or not, _fucking_ him behind the scenes gives Basil special hindsight on his schedule and commitments. He may have dropped the hint that many of his rich friends would be very interested in his product and, hopefully, that’ll be more than enough to make sure he attends. It would appear he has already agreed with Killer on something, after all.  
  
“Music’s set up, mate”, Apoo returns to his friends, and sits down next to him. His curly, medium length hair are tied up in a small ponytail behind his head, exposing the golden hoop he sports on his left ear.  
  
“ _Hn_. Thank you, Apoo”.  
  
Although there is nothing _romantic_ between them, as it’s been repeated multiple times, _especially_ by Trafalgar, his breath still itches in his chest when the doorbell rings and the butler escorts him to the living room. As he often does, the dark-haired boy is sporting an all-black outfit, which comprises jeans, a striped sweater and a blazer, while his head is for once deprived of the usual white, spotted hat. The slight smudge of eyeliner underneath his eyes contributes to the rockstar appeal he emanates, Basil can feel his mouth water as he stares at his confident smirk and overly expressive eyebrows.  
  
The thing with Trafalgar Law is, he always gives off the impression he’s _mocking_ you. It’s nothing mean or blatant, it’s more like a subtle inside joke only he has access to, and that half-crooked smile the only tangible proof that he possesses such knowledge and _will_ use it if need be.   
  
“Found a bit of traffic on my way here”, Law notes, apologetically. He didn’t show up with Bepo this time, which is odd, but no one here cares enough about the white-haired boy to question him about it. “Happy birthday, Basil- _ya_ ”.  
  
Even though his friends are being very chatty, Basil Hawkins can’t hear them as the boy leans in and briefly wraps his arms around his shoulders in his personal interpretation of a manly hug – _what’s manly or not manly about hugs, however_ , _Basil is afraid he will never know_. It’s stiff, and uncomfortable. This is not how his touch usually feels like. It only now occurs to him that it’s been months since they’ve last spent any time just the two of them, let alone naked, or that he has never texted or called during the summer despite both staying in town.  
  
There’s also the small matter of the drastic change his classmate seems to have undergone in the past three months, but he doubts he has had any type of influence over _that._   
  
Maybe the appropriate form would be that they _were_ fucking. As of now, he doubts he’ll be getting any _cake_ from him today.  
  
Killer’s outburst of joy snaps him out of his thoughts. “ _Oi_ , Law. Did you bring _it_?”

* * *

The party is scheduled to start at seven p.m., so _obviously_ the Straw Hats don’t show up until nine, after a couple of drinks downtown, when things are already in full swing and they don’t risk to stumble into a half-empty room and consequent awkward conversations.  
  
Chopper is not sure how he has ended up in his current position, sitting on one edge of the pool outside with Bepo, _high as trucks_ , questioning the hidden meaning of life as they stuff their face with birthday cake, but here he is, laughing harder than ever before, so much so that he clutches at his sides, and almost falls into the pool fully clothed along with his most prized possession, his camera.  
  
It’s an old model, lacking many features when compared to current technologies, but he’s quite fond of it, and he’s using it to compile the photo-diary of his journey through New Marineford.  
  
Whilst he would be absolutely heartbroken if anything ever happened to it, he’s too elated right now to take a bigger precaution than setting it aside, distant enough from the water that it doesn't risk getting splashed.  
  
“ _Ne_ , Chopper…”, Bepo trails off, looking down at the water with a thoughtful expression.  
  
There’s no trace left on his face of the joy they have just shared. He’s looking inside the house through the wall-height windows, where most of the guests are located, some drinking, others dancing, but everyone is mingling. “…You don’t think something’s wrong with Traffy _,_ do you?”  
  
Bepo’s question is a harsh clash with reality, like nails on a blackboard. He would lie if he said he hasn’t noticed any changes, because _he did_ , but at the same he’s an outsider, a _bystander_ at best in Trafalgar Law’s life, so _he wouldn’t know any better_ , he supposes, and he doesn’t want to spook him unnecessarily.  
  
“He does look a bit more withdrawn, but I’m sure he would tell you if something happened to him”, Chopper replies, settling for his genuine opinion. “Since you’re clearly the one that knows him better, maybe we should focus on finding out what’s prompting _you_ to ask such questions”.  
  
One can say Bepo is the only recurring character in the crowd that usually surrounds one of the most popular students of New Marineford, the poster-boy for a _best friend_ , so if someone can decipher Law, or even a fraction of him, then that’s him, his white-haired, unbelievably shy right-hand man.  
  
“ _Jeez_. I don’t know, I _really_ don’t know… But he has people calling him at all times of day and night, and, you know, a lot of times we would agree to meet up with Penguin and Shachi only for Traffy to disappear into thin air as soon as that _damn_ phone rings. I’m worried about him…”  
  
 _This does sound a bit odd_ – Chopper convenes. It’s rude and unapologetic, he feels sorry for him. One _ought_ to treat their friends _better_ than this.  
  
“Have you tried talking directly to him?”  
  
Bepo sighs. “I was hoping you’d tell me there’s nothing to talk about”, he admits with a bitter smile. Then he leans a bit closer, and dramatically lowers his voice. “But then again, I suppose _everyone_ at school knows that…”  
  
“ _EH_?!”, Chopper squeaks. “He does _what_?”  
  
“ _Err_ , well…”, Bepo scratches the back of his head, cheeks ablaze. “ _Seriously_ , though. _Everyone knows_ ”.

* * *

On the dancefloor, Vinsmoke Sanji is having the time of his life as he drowns in a sea of beautiful ladies. Pretty much the entire school has been invited to Basil Hawkins’ eighteenth birthday, along a multitude of people he has never seen before, so his house, albeit massive, is still insanely packed.  
  
The music is fast-paced, but still somewhat _tasteful_ , and words are all poor and useless when it comes to describe the magnificence of his Nami- _swan_ in her pretty blue dress. As if that isn’t enough, the blond sous-chef is literally surrounded by dozens of beauty queens: there’s Pudding and Shirahoshi from the other senior class on his sides, and is that a _wink_ from pretty sophomore Conis? To top all of this, he has had no contact with Eustass or his crew, with the exception of Basil, who has merely invited them inside and accepted their birthday wishes with his usual cold politeness before disappearing.  
  
A delicate hand taps his shoulder as he follows the music, showing the results of years of mandatory dance lessons, unaware of the many eyes who are now following his every move, out of either admiration or spite, or a mixture of the two. The blond turns around only to be blinded by Viola’s smile.  
  
“…May I have this dance?”, she asks, mockingly, with a curtsy and everything.  
  
She’s rocking a white jumpsuit and a giant pair of golden hoops, her black curls styled so that they fall over her right shoulder.  
  
Sanji’s a little dumbstruck at first, but he recovers fast. As lovely as the Dressrosa princess looks, pure nosebleed material, there’s a reason this… this _flirting_ between them didn’t lead to anything more, if he didn’t get a goodnight kiss on prom night last year, if they didn’t work the first time around. Such reason has hazelnut eyes, and skin as pale and soft as milk, unusual orange hair and a contagious laugh, some of the best grades in the whole school and, most importantly, a _name_ … But _Nami_ does not know how he feels, she’s not interested in him (nor will she ever be), so there’s nothing wrong in humoring his friend a little, and accept her childish invitation. There isn’t a potential relationship he could damage, is it?  
  
“ _Milady_ , I’ll be happy to serve you as your humble dance partner…”  
  
He has his back on her, so he doesn’t see Nami’s disappointed look, nor does he realize that she has heard his every word, or that she’s now making her way to the bar.  
  
If only Sanji would follow his gut and turn around. _How unfortunate_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so, Nami just can't mind her own business, uh? 😇  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and whatever new information it brings. Please don't hate me for the mention of Basil/Law, they are (were) just classmates with benefits (?) ahah, but don't worry, none of that nonsense is happening again under my watch. About Law, I thought it made sense that Chopper would be that one person innocent enough not to have figured out that he sells drugs, lmao. Also, what do _you_ think of Bartolomeo and Cavendish?  
> Next chapter will be posted on Thursday, I think. Here's my [tumblr](https://hiraethwrites.tumblr.com/) and the [pinterest boards](https://www.pinterest.it/hiraethchan/seven-seas-of-rhye-characters/) I've made for most of the characters (the young ones at least), in case someone wants to check those out. Have a lovely day! 💘💘


	6. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which chaos ensues at Basil's birthday party and Garp makes his grand entrance.

By one a.m. the party is still in full swing, with thus far not a mention of a shortage of alcohol and people still appearing at the front door from time to time. Everyone knows Basil has _clout_ , but things are getting a little ridiculous. Trafalgar has managed to sell every ounce before midnight and for the past hour he has been idly parading through the mansion, avoiding social interactions as much as possible and desperately looking for Bepo, so that he can get high with someone he actually _likes_.  
  
He’s not sure he would start selling again if told beforehand of what it really entails. It’s not as if he needs the money, anyway. What has started as a simple way to pay for his own weed without using Corazon’s money is rapidly becoming a nuisance.  
  
The purple bruise beneath his right eye is a painful, constant reminder of that.  
  
“…Trafalgar! Trafalgar!”, shouts someone, whom he immediately recognizes as Bepo. “ _Traffy_!”  
  
His best friend is out of breath as he turns the corner, red-faced and sporting a worried expression.  
  
“Come with me”, he pleads.  
  
His tone is unusually assertive for Bepo’s standards and he instantly picks up on the gravity of the situation. Law follows without a word as he guides him back through the labyrinth of hallways, but eventually he still pushes him for a little bit of context. He is panicking at seeing his best friend in such a state.  
  
“We need your help. Chopper, he’s… _They_ … We were talking by the pool when someone pushed us and… Chopper doesn’t know how to swim, either. I- I couldn’t do anything. _Please_ ”.  
  
_Holy fucking hell_. Trafalgar Law sprints faster for the outside patio. He doesn’t like where this is going, not one bit.

* * *

Zoro is at the bar, trying to pick up the pieces of a drunk Nami and an even more wasted Usopp, when he receives the same news, only in the form of an acquaintance from school, who casually mentions “ _his friend Chopper_ ” is drowning in the pool and then proceeds to try and hit on a semi-unconscious Nami.  
  
“Guys, wake up”, he grunts, pinching the tender skin of their wrists. There are probably gentler ways to bring them back to reality, or at least to a somewhat lucid daze, but considering the circumstances he will go for whatever is fastest and gets him to the pool, and therefore Chopper to safety, sooner.  
  
“We’ve got to get to the pool. They said something about Chopper drowning”.  
  
This seems to sober them up a fair bit, because he can hear their steps following closely behind even as he rushes in the direction of the pool.  
  
Now chances are this is a tasteless joke and their younger friend is perfectly fine, but people have tried to mess with him in the past, especially right after he moved to New Marineford, so he feels it’s best if he gets his ass there straight away and, in the case nothing happened, he’ll just drink and laugh and be over it.   
  
“This way”, Nami tugs at the hem of his shirt.  
  
Only now does he realize he’s been heading further inside the house for the entire time. Maybe Perona has a point, after all, when she questions his sense of direction.  
  
What follows are the longest three minutes of his life: one to reach their destination, another to assess the situation, and the last one to release their breaths, because ( _thankfully_ ) someone is getting Chopper out of the water already.

* * *

“… _So,_ yeah, I know I’ve probably over-reacted, but I don’t think he should have said what he did…”  
  
Robin sips quietly on her soda, wondering what Kaya is expecting her to say for the umpteenth time. She knows nearly nothing about her or her relationship, she’s not the type of person who would spew advice based on a single episode, a single account of the problem, a single instance in what’s a two years romance. Not that she’s the one you should seek for romantic counsel in the first place, but that’s an entirely different matter, and not something she can pin on Kaya without it leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.  
  
Nico Robin has had admirers, one or two _crushes_ back in the day, a couple of fleeting, disastrous sexual experiences, but never a relationship, or someone genuinely interested in her, someone who cared – as it’s clearly the case with these two. She hasn’t paid much attention to the details, but it appears they have a mere problem of miscommunication, which she’s pretty sure Kaya won’t be solving any time soon if she keeps talking to her instead of Usopp.  
  
“…What do you think?”  
  
So, _here goes nothing_ – she muses.  
  
“ _Hm_? Oh, yeah”, she feigns confidence, albeit startled by the question. “Honestly, I think you should talk about it with Usopp. I don’t believe he has been ignoring your feelings deliberately, he’s probably not even _aware_ something's wrong to begin with…”  
  
Her final statement is followed by awkward silence, as Kaya goes over her words and Robin stands next to her, not sure what to do as she waits for an answer. Her blue eyes glide over the edge of the pool as they have been doing for the entire conversation, only the comforting image of Chopper talking to his friend has now disappeared to be replaced by the frightening sight of Bepo crying and screaming for help.  
  
“You’re probably right, I should-”  
  
“ _Help!_ _Someone help us!_ ”  
  
One would assume someone with her grades would be clever enough to think before they act, but this time it's truly a matter of a split-second decision. The indifference of the people who are watching the white-haired boy whimper and admit he can’t swim is something that it’s too familiar, it strikes the chord in Robin’s heart which hurts the most.  
  
Just as Bepo runs away and Kaya turns around and gasps at the sight of Chopper floundering in the pool, Robin sprints in the direction of the water, closes her eyes and jumps.  
  
It doesn’t take more than ten, maybe twelve strokes of her arms to swim to the other side of the pool, but this is still the biggest physical effort she has ever made. Her mind shuts down almost completely when her body initially penetrates the surface. It’s cold, and wet, and uncomfortable, her mascara burns as it melts away.  
  
It feels just like _that_ day, like two years ago.  
  
It’s only because of adrenaline – and because she can hear Chopper’s screams even with her head underwater – that she pushes forward and ignores the ominous impulse at the pit of the stomach, the one telling her to stop, that’s it’s too late for Chopper now just as it was too late for Nico Olvia… _No_ , she thinks, putting a little more energy in every stroke.  
  
The guests outside are all staring at her, and a good number of people is joining them from inside the house, but Robin doesn’t care, she doesn’t have the time nor the patience to even notice. As soon as her arms close around Chopper, who has ingested some water but seems otherwise fine, her only concern lays in getting the boy out of the pool.  
  
She doesn’t know _why_ she feels so fiercely protective of Chopper, she has just met him little over a week ago, but she is. Maybe it’s because he’s younger and genuinely the _nicest_ person she has ever had the pleasure to meet.  
  
“It’s OK, Chopper. It’s OK…”, Robin hugs him out of instinct once they’ve both climbed out of the pool, startling Chopper, who is still convinced he’s about to drown, herself, who’s not overly comfortable with public displays of affection (or affection at all), and the crowd, who now that the danger has passed, _no thanks to them_ , is too busy speculating over a possible relationship between them. _Ugh,_ she hates people sometimes.  
  
“I was so scared”, Chopper whispers in her ear, returning the hug when the initial surprise has subsided. “I never got a chance to learn how to swim back in Drum”, he admits. “I shouldn’t have stood by the pool”.  
  
He sounds very ashamed of himself, and it pisses Robin off. “How did you end up in there?”, she asks. “Unless you jumped into it, which I doubt, how does standing by the pool leads to near death? Are you suggesting Bepo pushed you in there?”  
  
“Eh? Bepo?! No, no, no”, he shakes his head, frantically, pulling out of the hug, but any further explanation is cut off by the deep, booming voice that pipes up behind them. “We were talking when suddenly I felt-”  
  
“Guys, what… What happened? Are you okay, Chopper?”

* * *

Nami can’t tell if she’s hallucinating or not, but she desperately hopes she is.   
  
“…Are you okay, Chopper?”  
  
She barely hears Zoro’s words, eyes bouncing between her friends. This is all so confusing… and exhausting. Yes, exhausting. She doesn’t believe for a second that this is some weird, random accident.  
  
“Who did this to you, Chopper?”, she asks, perhaps a little more severely than she probably should. She can’t shake the bad feeling that someone deliberately tried to hurt Chopper, or at the very least scare him out of his wits – she has a pretty good guess as to whom could be heartless enough to pull _that_ off.  
  
“I, I don’t-”, he utters, then pauses and scrunches his nose up. “I’m not sure what happened, Nami”.  
  
“What do you think it happened, though?”, presses Robin, all the while trying to squeeze the water out of her long, black hair. “You were standing by the pool and…?”  
  
“I don’t know”, Chopper sighs, defeatedly. “Something hit my back and the next thing I knew was that I could not breathe. Bepo tried to take me out of the pool, but he’s even a worse swimmer than I am. He left to get help, and thirty seconds later Robin was by my side”.  
  
Nami tries to make some sense out of her friend’s account, but right now she’s too upset to digest the information. The timing, for example, is very suspicious.  
  
How come such an accident occurs in the very occasion Chopper’s with someone who can’t swim as well? But why would Eustass and his lackeys, her prime suspects, go after their own classmate? They wouldn’t dare cross Trafalgar Law so blatantly, would they? Last she has heard, they’re still _buddies_ and everything.  
  
“Thank you, Robin”, she exhales once she has calmed down a little, walking towards the pair and hugging them both, not caring if her expensive dress gets wet in the process. “For saving our friend”.  
  
“Yes, _thank you_ , Robin”, Chopper pipes up, half-strangled by the tight hold she has on them.  
  
The raven-haired girl feels a bit stiff in Nami’s arms, but she can’t really blame her once she notices that she’s covered in goosebumps. She whips her head around, ordering, “Zoro, give me your jacket”.  
  
He mutters something inaudible, but ultimately hands her the garment. He glares at those still staring at their small group, pretending not to notice when she wraps his leather jacket around Robin. Zoro starts looking for the others, but his it’s not an uninterested move. He doesn’t want the über-witch to see him _blushing_.  
  
“Where’s Luffy?”, he asks. Unsurprisingly, their leader has been swept up by an hoard of admirers the moment he set foot in Basil Hawkins’ home and his location is still unknown. “ _Ero-cook_? Franky? Vivi?”  
  
“Straw-Hat is on his way”, chimes in a familiar voice. Trafalgar Law joins them on the right side of the pool with Bepo in tow. He’s slightly out of breath, but he seems to lighten up as his grey eyes land on the still alive Chopper. “Bepo told me someone pushed you in the pool, Chopper- _ya_ ”.  
  
“Just as I thought”, Robin points out, grimly.

* * *

As a swordsman, Roronoa Zoro has been taught from the very beginning that there are instances in life where one has to keep a hold of their emotions and focus on their higher goal, but it seems it’s not as easy to apply the same logic to everyday life, because he’s not sure he can stop his blood from boiling and burning through his veins as he digests the implications of Law’s words.  
  
“…Bepo told me someone pushed you in the pool, Chopper- _ya_ ”.  
  
“Well, we don’t know exactly…”  
  
Bepo cuts him off. “I do. Someone pushed _me_ , at least. You lost your balance and fell in the pool because _I_ tripped on you”.  
  
“What? You didn’t mention that before”, Law frowns, clutching at his temples. “Did you see who?”  
  
All eyes are now on the white-haired senior, who gulps before tearfully shaking his head. “N-no, I don’t think I did”, he mutters. “I only caught a glimpse of a silver ring, but that’s not much to go by”.  
  
Even though most of the student body would potentially fit the description – it’s not uncommon for rich people to wear jewelry, after all – it’s curious how more than one person instinctively thinks of the same person as the potential culprit. But why would Eustass Kid go after Bepo? It doesn’t make any sense.  
  
Chopper hiccups, snapping the swordsman out of his thoughts. The poor boy looks extremely uncomfortable, he is very pale, void of his usual boyish grin, while Robin, beside him, is in no better shape. His jacket may help protecting her from the cool air, but it’s utterly useless against the damp fabric that’s making her shiver.  
  
“ _Oi_ , guys! I found Sanji!”, Usopp shows up, followed by the blond sous-chef and the Dressrosa princess.  
  
Zoro pretends not to notice Nami’s scowl as the brunette stands very close to Sanji, so close, in fact, that from a certain angle it would look as if they’re holding hands.  
  
He turns to his ginger-haired friend. “Nami, you wait for Luffy and the others. They’ll want to know what happened, but we should get these two...”, he points to Chopper and Robin, “...out of here”.  
  
“Hey! Why are you the one getting Robin-ch _w_ an to safety?”, Sanji pipes up.  
  
“Seriously, _dart-brow_?”, he snickers. “My house is the closest from here”.   
  
The last part is uttered with arrogance, after he has already made his way to the pair and turned his back on the Vinsmoke prince, but just as the three are about to disappear inside, and from there leave the party, Luffy runs up to them, panting.  
  
“ _Oi_ , guys! Wait for me!” He catches up in less than a minute, his white shirt wrinkled and stained. “Let’s go to my place”, he announces. “The others will take a cab or get someone to pick them up, I don’t care. We need to get to the bottom of this”.  
  
The captain rarely sounds this serious, but he understands where his concern is coming from. He, too, ever since their weird, unexpected beef with Kid’s crew started last week, has been worried the _bastards_ would try and haunt their youngest, supposedly weakest link, first.  
  
Zoro nods and they resume their previous route, marching to the front door. They leave the house and Basil’s birthday party behind them without looking back once, and hurriedly instruct a visibly confused Hatchan to drive them back to Luffy’s house.  
  
It really falls on him, as he lets himself sink in the comfortable seat, how much of a crazy night they've just had, how much they have risked, how much they might have lost.

* * *

The _Monkey D._ mansion is insanely massive, heavily guarded at every entrance, and it has every bit the look of a gilded cage, a lavish, custom-tailored and impressive cage, but a cage nonetheless.  
  
Robin has been given a change of clothing, an old pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt so big she could use it as a dress, along with a pair of over-sized slippers, and she has been escorted to the bathroom by a member of the staff, a tall, stout woman whose steps are so heavy, their echo has bounced between the walls on the entire walk here.  
  
Gratefully, at least the bathroom is free from the security cameras scattered all over the rest of property, and the girl can change comfortably. She tries to scrub the smudged makeup from her face, but there’s only so much she can do with only water and a towel. The mascara still clinging to her under-eye area makes her look a little like a weird half-breed between a grunge enthusiast and a panda, but _honestly_ , _who cares_.   
  
There are more important things she needs to think about, like who would have something to gain by pushing Bepo in the pool, and consequentially almost killing Chopper, or the absolute ice she has been feeling in her bones ever since her body touched the water earlier.  
  
It’s a little better now that she has dried off, but the coldness persists, and Nico Robin frankly has no idea how to deal with it.  
  
She has purposefully avoided anything larger or deeper than a bathtub for almost two years, but it’s only now that she has finally broken her record, seen the impact it’s having on her, that she can truly understand how right her previous choice has been: in any other moment, for anything _less_ than someone’s life, such a vivid and traumatic re-enaction of her past would have absolutely wrecked her soul. Even though there’s nothing she’d like more than sit down and cry, a _knock-knock-knock_ abruptly snaps her back to reality.  
  
Dadan’s voice reaches her from the other side of the white wooden door. “Is everything okay in there, young lady?”  
  
Robin’s eyes dart up to the clock and she only now realizes how much time she has spent in here, allegedly fixing her appearance, or so she announced.  
  
Looking back at her reflection in the mirror, she sighs. Well, she’d lie if she said she doesn’t have some experience in covering up a meltdown or two. _Or five_.

* * *

Monkey D. Garp wears his finest night-robe as he climbs down the stairs which lead to the boys’ playroom.  
  
He generally avoids the room as if some toxic spore resides in it, which, for the record, it’s probably the case, but he’s been wrongfully deprived of his sleep the moment the front door opened and there was a suspicious rush of steps, followed by Dadan’s ushered voice, and he feels he’s entitled to some kind of explanation.  
  
The spoiled _brat_ knows his insomnia has only gotten worse post-retirement, so he better provide a damn good justification for his nightly incursion, or else Garp will be forced to remind him of who’s _boss_ in this household with his infamous _fist of love_. It’s been years since any of the boys have needed it and he’s a little out of shape, but _well_ , he probably will manage it just fine.  
  
“ _Monkey D. Luffy_!”, he booms, walking down the final steps. When his white hair and menacing face are revealed, there’s a collective gasp of fear, which he relishes in. It appears he hasn’t lost his touch yet. “You better start telling me now why you thought I’d appreciate guests at this hour of the night”.  
  
The two boys sitting next to his grandson on the sofa he recognizes as two of his usual friends, although the younger one looks pretty roughed up, and Garp still can’t figure out why Luffy would be friends with the likes of Roronoa Zoro after all this time. The girl sitting by herself on the armchair, a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders, however, is someone the _Hero of the Navy_ has never met before. If Luffy is trying to give him a stroke _again_ , then this may be his best attempt yet.  
  
What are they doing, hiding in _his_ home like such at this ungodly hour of the night, and why does not only old Kureha’s child look distressed, but the girl, too? _What_ _happened_?  
  
The fact his grandson seems so serious and contemplative, it’s an odd look on his face, only increases Garp’s concerns. _Back in his day_ – Ace always rolls his eyes at him when he says that, _the stupid brat_ – youngsters were more disciplined, they didn’t bring girls home at two a.m. and expect their elders not to question them. He doesn’t want to imagine what _his_ father would have done if presented with such a sight.  
  
He’s quite sure he made Luffy sit through a documentary about human reproduction and the dangers of unprotected sex, mostly unwanted pregnancies and STDs, a couple years ago or so, but his youngest grandson never started bringing girls home as Ace and Sabo did multiple times, he never looked at a beautiful woman twice, and over time it became clear he just wasn’t interested. Garp has considered the hypothesis he’s gay, but no boyfriends have ever walked through his door either.  
  
“I’m sorry for imposing on you, Garp-san”, Chopper lowers his head, apologetically. His voice is a bit more high-pitched than he remembers and he’s struggling a little to get the words out of his mouth. “We were at a schoolmate’s party, b-but I fell into the pool…”  
  
“He didn’t fall into the pool”, Luffy corrects, looking up at his grandfather. “Chopper was talking to his friend Bepo _by_ the pool, when someone pushed Bepo, so Bepo fell on Chopper, and _then_ Chopper fell into pool. Our new friend Nico Robin”, he points a finger at the raven-haired girl, who smiles faintly at him. Her name sounds kind of familiar. “She’s the one that got Chopper out of the water. We came here so they could warm up and get a change of clothes. I thought we were quiet enough not to wake you up”.   
  
“You assumed _poorly_ ”, Garp rebukes, albeit he now feels a lot softer about the whole ordeal. He still can’t understand what the big deal with two boys falling into a pool is, but at least he can relish in the knowledge that his grandson is not partaking in _orgies_ under his roof, and that’s enough to squash his temper. “See that your friends are properly taken care of, then. I don’t wish Kureha to be mad at me when I see her for my next checkup. I’m sure Robin’s parents will feel similarly”.  
  
He can’t recall many occasions in which he has managed to be quite so smooth in the presence of Luffy’s friends rather than scaring the living _shit_ out of them, but such pride is just temporary, because the room freezes, and the girl now looks at him as if he has just killed her cat, or something equally as disturbing.  
  
He has got no experience with teenage girls, and even after raising not one, not two, but three boys, he’s still a bit stiff when he needs to relate to younger people’s feelings.  
  
Even so, however, what could he possibly have said _now_ that seems to be so inherently wrong?  
  
“You don’t think your mom will pull you out of school if she learns about it, do you?”, Luffy ignores him, turning to Chopper instead. He doesn’t want to make Robin more uncomfortable than she already looks: his mother died of childbirth, so he knows how it feels when people ask questions about your family and you can’t produce an answer that’s not depressing. “You weren’t even the original target!”  
  
“We don’t know that for sure”, Zoro interjects. “Maybe they pushed Bepo just so that he’d fall on Chopper. We can’t rule out any possibility until we find out exactly who it was. However, there’s a matter I think it’s even more pressing…”  
  
“She wanted me to come to New Marineford even more than I did”, Chopper shrugs, not sure why Luffy would think of such extreme measures. Why everyone seems so convinced that this was an attempted murder? He’d rather think it was an accident, a random, once-in-a-lifetime accident. He can’t deal with the ramifications of thinking otherwise, not before a good night of sleep. “What is that, Zoro?”  
  
The green-haired boy sighs, looking way more mature than his young age warrants. “Did this all happen by chance, or someone knew either you or Bepo can’t swim and wanted to take advantage of that?”  
  
It finally hits Garp why he has always felt so strongly against his friendship with Luffy. He can’t believe, much less _accept_ , that such an idiot is the clever one out of the two.  
  
At least he now knows what the commotion was all about.  
  
_Whatever is going on in teenagers’ lives nowadays_?

* * *

“What the hell is wrong with you?”, Kid snarls, punching the steering wheel of his father’s favorite Bugatti.  
  
He is driving Killer, who is too high to even realize they left Basil’s party, home, and to say he is pissed would be a major understatement.  
  
_What was he even thinking?_  
  
Killer makes to open his mouth and retort, but Eustass stops him before he can utter a word.  
  
“Don’t _fucking_ tell me to calm down”, he continues. “I saw you by the pool, Killer. I saw you pushing Bepo and the little guy… They could have died, for _fuck_ ’s sake”.  
  
“Relax, _bro_. It was an accident”, says the other, ignoring his warning.  
  
A dangerous vein pops up on Kid’s forehead. He struggles to believe that their schoolmate fell into the pool by chance, but this is his best friend he’s talking about, so he owes him at least the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.  
  
“I didn’t mean to push them. I just lost my balance for a moment…”  
  
“Then maybe you shouldn’t get more _shit-_ faced than you can handle, _bro_ ”, he rebukes, pulling up in front of Killer’s house. His friend’s father is touring the Grand Line with his band and his _fifth_ wife is unsurprisingly not home, probably tired already of putting up with such a dysfunctional environment. “Here you go, take a shower and sleep on it. It goes without saying that Bepo’s off-limits. We need Law on our side if we want to win this year and... Well, it is not that hard to turn into a _murderer_ …”  
  
Eustass would know. With his father’s trial coming up, he might actually get to keep the Bugatti all to himself.

* * *

The tea lies cold in the cups and Monkey D. Garp has long since returned to his bedroom, but the quartet still sits on the sofas in Luffy’s playroom, fully awake despite the desperate need of sleep warranted by this hour of the night.  
  
They have gone over tonight's earlier events many times, mainly a back and forth between Zoro and the host sometimes corroborated by a faint nod of the parties involved, but they’re yet to compromise.  
  
Luffy appears of the idea that they should beat up Eustass and his crew first thing tomorrow morning, as if it’s the only reasonable option, whilst the green-haired swordsman thinks it’s best to be cautious and that they should gather a little more information before they _eventually_ kick some ass.   
  
“I’d like to believe it was all some big accident”, reiterates Chopper, but nobody really pays any attention to him.  
  
How can they possibly believe that when Sanji’s locker has been trashed just earlier this week? Someone’s out to get the Straw Hats, for whatever reason, but Luffy and Zoro agree at least over one point: it's up to them to protect the rest of the group.  
  
Robin doesn’t seem to have much of an opinion, she’s playing with the teaspoon in her cup, absorbed in her own thoughts, still as pale as the moment she exited the pool.  
  
Zoro knows this because his eyes haven’t left her for a second ever since Chopper’s rescue, and the more she withdraws somewhere they don’t belong, shivering in the middle of a perfectly warm room, the more he wonders what could possibly be going on in her head.  
  
Despite what he notices, he decides not to call her out on her strange behavior. She is too upset to deal with complete strangers prodding their noses into her personal business.  
  
It’s a pity that Luffy’s not as tactful and does not show her the same kindness. “What’s wrong with you?”, he asks, tilting his head on one side. “Are you cold? _Dadaaaaan_!”  
  
“It’s okay, Luffy”, she shakes her head, a faint smile on her lips that does not quite reach her eyes. “I’m not cold. It’s just… I didn’t swim in quite a while, it brings back old memories I’d rather just forget”.  
  
“What memories?”, Luffy presses, unaware of the hurt his words are causing.  
  
He has been taught to get things out of his chest no matter the consequences. Secrecy is uncharted territory for him. However, he offers a gentle smile as he demands an answer, which strangely compels her to indulge him. He's the poster boy of innocence, Nico Robin hates to be the one that breaks his heart.  
  
“I was in the car with my mother when…”, she halts, taking a deep breath. “We were on our way back from the city when another car hit us, on the bridge just before our house. Our car fell into the water, but when the help arrived it was already too late for her. I avoided anything larger than a bathtub ever since”.  
  
It’s never easy to open up and relive the worst day of her life through narration, but news that famous archaeologist Nico Olvia had an accident and drowned in the river, leaving her daughter and fiancée behind, were all over the papers two years ago; she knows it’ll only take her new friends a rapid internet search to find out about it. Might as well clear the air herself and hopefully be done with this discussion soon.  
  
It helps that only three other people are present, and not the entire Straw-Hat crew; such a huge audience would make the task even more overwhelming and she’s not sure she’s ready for that _yet_.  
  
Back at the Institute she never mentioned a word about her past, so when eventually it caught up to her, people were surprisingly fast in dubbing her _the weirdo_ and move on to the next, juicy piece of gossip.

“I’m so sorry, Robin…”, Chopper starts, but she waves him off.  
  
It’s not his fault that he has been pushed into the pool, or that he doesn’t know how to swim.  
  
He shouldn’t feel responsible for other people’s cruelty, it’s not as if there’s something wrong with him – amazing how one would fail, nine times out of ten, to apply the advice they dispatch to their own problems.  
  
There wasn’t something wrong with her either, after all, when she first moved to Alabasta, but, for the longest time, she has still believed it was her fault if nobody wanted to be her friend there.  
  
“It’s not your fault, Chopper”, she reassures him. “You couldn’t know, and no one should have pushed you into the pool to begin with. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine”.  
  
Or at least she hopes so.  
  
“ _Jeez_ , that’s awful”, is Luffy’s blunt reply, although he has the decency to look uncomfortable now that he has finally gotten an answer to his questions. Robin’s reaction and closed-off attitude make a lot more sense now. “But hey, look at the bright side. You managed to put all that behind you, if only temporarily. Thank you for taking care of Chopper when I couldn’t”.   
  
“Don’t even mention it”.  
  
Zoro doesn’t utter a word, but she can feel his eyes on her face like fire, or melted lava, sliding up and down her cheekbones as they follow the familiar path paved by her tears. His mind spins so hard it’s impossible not to notice, as if he’s asking himself some questions (and coming up with the answers, too).  
  
Robin feels incredibly small under his stare, but she looks up and meets it with one of her own.  
  
What’s done is done – she has already convened that she can’t change her past, but she’ll be damned if she lets the future take the same shape with no interference on her part.  
  
She feels strangely intrigued by her green-haired schoolmate, by his pretty smile and subtle personality. Whether he has her interest or her doubt she can’t tell, but he has surely caught her attention.   
  
Further queries are prevented by Dadan’s return, who quickly sends the three guests upstairs, to the bedrooms she has prepared for them.  
  
Poor Hachi has earned some sleep, and the kids themselves are looking pretty roughed up.  
  
Anyone will feel better after a couple hours of sleep, Dadan included.

* * *

It’s roughly six a.m. when Chopper turns around in his sleep once more, slapping the back of his right hand on the left side of Zoro’s face, waking him up for the umpteenth time.  
  
Since the sun’s already up in the sky, as it transpires from the dim daylight filtering through the windows, the swordsman concludes it’s time he gets up and heads down for some breakfast.  
  
Hastily, he puts back on his black jeans from the night before, but gives up on the shirt, tainted and wrinkled beyond repair, with a vague stench of alcohol, and keeps the clean sweatshirt he has borrowed from Luffy instead. A quick check in the mirror reveals his hair is particularly spiky this morning, reaching for the heavens from a wide variety of angles. With little success, Zoro brings up a hand to flatten them, only for the green strands getting messed up even further.  
  
He exits the room with small, delicate steps, as not to wake Chopper up, and then glances doubtfully at the labyrinth of hallways he now needs to remember his way out of.  
  
Having spent most of his childhood inside the house, one would expect him to find his way around it a bit more easily, but it takes the swordsman almost fifteen minutes to reach the dining room, where a prissy Dadan is having breakfast with Garp.  
  
Zoro stifles down a yawn as he sits down. “Good morning, Vice Admiral”.  
  
Monkey D. Garp doesn’t like him, the old man always made sure he would know it, and the feeling is one-hundred-percent mutual.  
  
One can’t be Luffy’s best friend and like him either.   
  
“Hey, Zoro. ‘ _Sup_?”, Ace pipes up, with a huge grin. His excitement would be much nicer if only he would stop stuffing his mouth with food. “I didn’t peg you for such an early riser”.  
  
“Good morning, _brat_ ”, Garp mumbles from behind his cup of black coffee.  
  
“I couldn’t sleep”, he replies. It’s not a lie, more like a half-truth. “Chopper snores”.  
  
“ _Aw_. That’s cute”, remarks Robin, who’s sporting the same white porcelain cup Luffy’s grandfather does.  
  
She’s sitting between Dadan and Ace, with Garp sitting alone at the head of the table. There’s no trace of Luffy’s other brother, Sabo, or the family’s trusted driver and bodyguard, Hachi. Unsurprisingly, his best friend still hasn’t showed up either, and probably won’t for many more hours.  
  
Zoro ignores Garp completely, focusing on his grandchild instead. “What are _you_ doing up so early?”  
  
“I promised the old man I’d go with him to some navy event”, Ace rolls his eyes. “Sabo, the lucky bastard, is studying for an exam, so he’s excused, while Luffy, I guess, is just too much of an embarrassment for grandpa’s standards”.  
  
“Language”, Garp says, menacingly. “But you’re right, your brother doesn’t know when to stop”.  
  
He thinks of the one time he made a fool of himself right in front of Dressrosa’s Prime Minister, and his interview for New Marineford, which Sengoku had promised was merely a formality, during which he had babbled endlessly of all the things that _did not_ make him a good candidate, like his absolute rejection of authority.  
  
Luffy stopped being an option for these types of events a long time ago.  
  
Zoro can’t really argue with that, nor does he care to. Ace can be just as feisty as his little brother, though, and dislikes the navy just as much, if not even more, so he can’t really see why Garp doesn’t just go on his own.  
  
He’d avoid certain embarrassment and spare his grandchildren much unnecessary hell. Perhaps that’s why he does it, perhaps he likes to watch them suffer.  
  
“We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes. I suggest you hurry up, Ace”, Garp stands up, glancing down at his grandson before waving a hand at his guests. “Everyone else, it’s been my pleasure. Tell your friend Chopper to show up here on Thursday evening, six p.m. I’ll teach the little guy how to swim”.   
  
“Poor Chopper”, Ace notes when he’s no longer in the room, prompting a snicker from Dadan. He gulps down the last of his orange juice and stands up to leave as well. “I’ll see you around”.  
  
His dark eyes glide over Robin a little more than the swordsman would appreciate. Zoro breathes a sigh of relief when he’s gone.

* * *

“You really shouldn’t have bothered, I could have just called a cab or walked home”, Robin remarks, taking off the black helmet. She’s not used to riding a motorbike as the passenger, or the amount of implicit trust it requires, but Zoro’s an excellent driver, and he has respected every rule and signal they’ve met on the road here from his garage. “But thank you nonetheless, Swordsman-san”.  
  
“ _Uh_ , you’re welcome”.  
  
He hasn’t stopped the engine, and his face is still covered by his helmet, but his voice is still a clear, albeit awkward sound, and despite her words she’s glad that he has gone out of his way to escort her home.  
  
This is the moment she has been dreading for hours now, being alone and facing the aftermath of her dip in the pool last night. Surely there is nothing wrong in trying to reciprocate the courtesy, the fact it postpones such a moment for a little bit longer is just a coincidence.  
  
“You’ve barely touched your breakfast”, she observes, glancing suggestively at the iron stairs that lead to her apartment. “I’ll make some coffee, if you’d like to join me”.  
  
The key has never snapped so fast in its hole, shutting down the bike. He leaves the helmet hanging from the throttle, followed suit by the one he gave to Robin, and the two climb their way up silently to the main door, which is soon shut open.  
  
It’s the first time he visits her apartment, only the girls have been invited here thus far.  
  
He’s not sure what his expectations have been up until this point, but they are somewhat met by the ambiance that shows up before him. The best way to describe it would be _girly_ , but he doesn’t mean it in a derogatory way: it reminds him of Perona’s bedroom, only much lighter and less goth.  
  
White and brown are the predominant colors, declined in a variety of shades, with the single open space operating as both the kitchen and dining room, and a decent-sized portion of the room dedicated to the living area, with sofas and a television, an old record player and a bookcase filled up to its maximum capacity.  
  
“Your house is very nice”, he compliments, although he’s not sure where the idea has come from.  
  
Dracule Mihawk likes his furniture to be minimalistic, plus he’s hardly the type that pays attention to other people’s houses. He has spent the first five years of his life in a foster home, he was one of those kids they were sure would never get adopted, so there’s no maternal figure either who could have dragged him to relatives and force him to compliment their choices of interior design.  
  
“How did you find this place?”  
  
“Saul found it for me. He’s my legal tutor of sorts… He administers my mother’s estate as I focus on my studies”, she replies, ducking behind the island counter and starting to work on the professional machine that’s sitting there. “It took almost the entire summer to fix it, but I think it was worth it”.  
  
Two minutes later she’s placing a fuming cup of coffee right in front of him and starts sipping from her own.  
  
Her face betrays her lack of sleep, but she’s trying to smile through it, and, surprisingly, the small curve on the corners of her lips is enough to distract the viewer (or at least this one) from her paleness.  
  
“It looked very old from the outside”, Zoro notes. This part of town is famous for its historical buildings and multiple construction bans that are meant to preserve the authenticity of the place, so it’s a bit odd that they’ve just let her do as she pleases. “On the bright side, you’re at walking distance from everything this city has to offer”.   
  
“My previous school was very isolated, one hour from the nearest city, which was actually a small village. It’s nice to be so close to everything, the middle of a desert can feel quite lonely”. She taps her fingers on the counter, deep in thought. “Since we share a wall with the café downstairs, I had to promise not to touch the exterior before I bought this apartment. Apparently, the business was started over a century ago”.  
  
He doesn’t say anything in reply. He only knows of Alabasta what Vivi, its princess, has shared over the years, but the two’s experiences are bound to be dramatically different, as one spends her time there inside the royal palace, while the other has attended the country’s prestigious boarding school. From what little he knows, however, the desert is not the easiest place to live in.  
  
“I hope Chopper was right”, Robin continues. “That it was all a big accident”.  
  
“Wouldn’t we all?”, he asks, smirk half-hidden behind the cup. “I really don’t know what to think”.  
  
“You had trouble with those guys before, didn’t you?”  
  
“I wouldn’t call it trouble, not really, but Nami and Kid dated for a little while some time ago, and when they broke up Eustass had a hard time letting go. I’m not sure what their problem with Sanji is, but Chopper wasn’t even a student here when all of that went down, and you know the guy, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, so there’s really no excuse for going after him. It’s bad enough that they never caught those responsible for the pranks he received when he first moved here…”, Zoro stops, aware that it’s a lot of information that he’s loading off on her, way more than conversational etiquette would allow.  
  
She looks exhausted, and probably feels so, from what she has said last night there’s a lot of personal stuff that she needs to unpack, so the last thing he wants is to overstay his welcome, or upset her any further by bringing it all up once again.   
  
“Pranks? What kind of pranks?”, Robin sounds quite shocked. “Was he hurt before?”  
  
She can’t even begin to imagine why people would have anything against someone as sweet as Chopper.  
  
“He wasn’t physically injured, if that’s what your asking”, he rebukes. “At first, it was his books mysteriously disappearing from his locker. One time they took his clothes and towel when he was showering after P.E. class, others he has been challenged to impossible tasks and then mocked when he couldn’t accomplish them. You can see for yourself that the guy who still believes most of Usopp’s _bullshit_ would be a little… impressionable”.  
  
The girl sets her now empty cup down, leaning a bit forward on the counter as she looks up at him.  
  
“We should keep an eye out for him”, she says. “What terrified me the most was not Chopper ending up in that pool, because yes, that perhaps was only an accident. It was the fact everyone else stood by and watched”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. 🥰  
> The one time I tell you when I'm supposed to update this story... _I don't_.  
> Hoping you'll forgive me, today I'm posting two chapters instead of one. 
> 
> More notes at the end of the next one!  
> I hope you'll enjoy the update. 💖 
> 
> p.s. Garp's the kind of grandpa who just forces you to reply with "ok, boomer", but he's a funny one (I hope).


	7. Level of Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which some members of the Straw-Hats go out for dinner and then meet up with Luffy, Ace and Sabo at the Phoenix's Nest.

**A COUPLE DAYS LATER.**  
  
“…I promise you, Law, we have no idea what happened the other night”.  
  
It’s Kid that’s talking, gesturing wildly to give some emphasis to his otherwise lacking words, but all that Trafalgar Law can see is the jewelry dangling on his fingers, the same RA silver ring even he and Bepo wear on a regular basis. There’s something he doesn’t like in the way Killer looks sideways at him, hastily smoking his second cigarette during their fifteen minutes break of mid-morning as they stand in a far, isolated corner of the gardens outside and try, at least on his part, to clear the air between them, but he can’t accuse someone without proof and bites back a nasty remark.  
  
“Are we good?”  
  
Law is snapped back to reality and nods slowly, only once, eyes still focused on Killer’s left hand. Bepo has been staring at it for the first two periods, but refuses to outright admit his suspicion.  
  
“We’re fine”.   
  
Pressed between a rock and a hard place, he can only sneer at his blond classmate when he approaches him to buy some and shushes him away.   
  
“Not now, dude. _Maybe_ next week”.  
  
The disappointment that fills the air is deeply satisfying.  
  
He and Bepo separate from the rest of the group, heading back inside and stopping by the vending machines on the second floor as agreed, where the whole Straw-Hat crew is waiting for the pair.  
  
“Torao! Bepo!”, Luffy grins at the newcomers. “What took you so long?”  
  
“I wanted some privacy”, he shrugs, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “As I suspected, they said they had nothing to do with what happened the other night. Eustass, of course, spoke for all of them”.  
  
“Of course”, Nami repeats, grimacing. “Well, it was worth a shot. Back to square one, then. Chopper, are you really sure you don’t remember anything else? Bepo? You mentioned seeing a hand? How was it?”  
  
“I’m sorry, Nami. It all happened too fast”, Chopper shakes his head, apologetically. He hates that this is still what the whole group talks about the most. “Don’t worry for me, I am fine now”.  
  
Bepo clears his throat. “It was just a hand, male I think, and with a silver ring”.   
  
“That’s like more than half of the people in our class already”, Law notes. His gut keeps telling him that his classmates know more than they are letting on about the accident, so he’ll keep an eye on them. “I’ll let you know if there’s any development whatsoever, Straw-Hat- _ya_ ”.  
  
The main reason he thinks Killer (and therefore Kid) may be involved, is that over the years he has witnessed the extent to which they’re willing to go out of boredom.  
  
Prank turned into attempted murder would be a way to go down very fitting of their characters.

* * *

“We should do something tonight”, suggests Nami as they sit in class.   
  
Professor Hina hasn’t showed up yet, late as usual, and she takes advantage of the temporary absence to turn around and address Luffy and Zoro, who are sitting behind her.   
  
“To take our minds, and Chopper’s, away from all of this”.  
  
“Yeah, we should go eat something. Or better, a lot of things”, Luffy pipes up, but his smile soon disappears. “Only I’m busy today, I promised my brothers I’d go out with them tonight”.  
  
“Usopp’s coming over to my parents’ house for dinner”, adds Kaya, apologetically. “Maybe we’ll catch up with you later if we’re not too tired”.   
  
Her words says one thing, but the records tells another story: there’s no way those two are leaving the comfort of her home to have drinks at some bar.  
  
“What about you, guys? Zoro? Sanji-kun?”, Nami inquires. “I’ve already texted Franky”.  
  
“As long as it doesn’t get too late”, the green-haired boy shrugs.   
  
Training will take up most of his afternoon, and there’s some homework for tomorrow that needs to be completed, but other than that his father will be out of town for the entire week and Perona hardly cares if he doesn't show up for dinner.  
  
His blond rival swoons.   
  
“Of course, Nami-swan! Anything for you!”, he exclaims, but there’s not the usual smile waiting for him as he looks up and at his orange-haired friend. She hasn’t been answering to his texts since the night of Basil’s birthday party and the weird silence is starting to grate on his nerves. “Can I talk to you after class?”  
  
Nami rolls her eyes. “ _Fine_. I’ll wait for you outside”.  
  
“My fridge is empty, so you can count me in”, says Robin, and after a little while Chopper and Vivi agree to go out with them as well.   
  
They barely have any time to make plans, however, as Professor Hina finally enters the classroom, muttering a half-assed excuse for being late, and soon enough they’re all sucked into today’s lesson.

* * *

“What do you want, Sanji-kun?”  
  
She taps loudly her right foot on the floor, standing right outside the classroom just as she has promised she would. Nami’s not exactly in the right mood to deal with him, but pretending everything is fine and indulging him now spares her from having more than one awkward conversation about her recent behavior and she’d rather fake a happiness she doesn’t feel than seriously confront any of _that_.  
  
“You’re ignoring me, Nami-swan”, the blond sighs, dramatically, glancing up at her with his puppy blue eyes.   
  
“Did I offend you in any way?”  
  
 _Not really_ , she’d like to say, but that’s another awkward conversation she desperately wishes to avoid.   
  
She’s not sure exactly why she’s so mad at him, it’s not like she’s the one who saved Chopper and can accuse him of doing nothing whilst keeping a clean conscience, but she is.   
  
She will never admit that the reason she has avoided any contact with him in the past couple of days lies in her inability to cope with the time he dedicated to another girl the night of the party, that would be an absolutely crazy thing to acknowledge.  
  
“I’m fine”, she lies, hoping to push him back at least long enough to sort out her feelings on the matter. “I’ve been very busy. Nojiko was home and we had a lot to catch up on”.  
  
“Are you sure?”, Sanji insists with a pleading voice.  
  
He seems genuinely wrecked at the idea of having caused her any trouble and for a moment she feels a spontaneous smile taking over her face, only to be replaced by a flat expression once her eyes land on the girl currently walking in their direction, ebony curls fluttering around a pretty, heart-shaped face.   
  
_Speaking of the devil_.  
  
“Your _girlfriend_ ’s here, Sanji-kun”, Nami exhales, offering Viola a fake smile as she steps aside and waves her hand at him. “I’ll see you in the cafeteria”.  
  
She sprints down the hallway, eager to put some distance between herself and her blond nightmare, so she doesn’t hear Sanji’s faint protest (“ _She’s not my girlfriend_ ”) or see the frown on his face.  
  
All Nami can think about is that there’s no way he’ll put up any resistance if – _when_ – Viola makes a move.

* * *

The cafeteria is just as crowded and lively as ever during lunchtime, but her friends have already got her meal for her, so she can avoid standing in the long, ominous line for half of her break and digs right into her salad.   
  
Unsurprisingly, a huge portion of her steak has been eaten already, so she picks it up with the fork and relocates it on Luffy’s empty plate.   
  
He looks at her as if she has just handed him the _moon_.  
  
“So, about tonight…”, she trails off, taking advantage of a moment of temporary stop in conversation. “Who’s in? I need to know before the end of class. I’ll book a table at the Hibiscus”.  
  
“I’m up for dinner”, says Franky. “But I might be taking an early leave, depending on the circumstances”.  
  
His sentence his followed by a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows, but Chopper doesn’t quite pick up on it. “What do you mean?”, he asks, visibly confused. “ _Ne_ , Franky, what circumstances?”  
  
Nami smiles at his naivety. “It means he’s bailing on us if he gets a _booty call_ ”.  
  
“Who’s getting a _booty call_?”, Sanji finally shows up, thankfully on his own, and takes up the seat next to hers. They’ve gotten a tray for him, too, but there’s no trace of a steak in his, just a faint outline of it between the vegetables and the sauce. “Hey, what happened to my- _Uh_ , whatever”.  
  
“I’m joining you for dinner, but I might not join you for drinks afterwards. I’m not sure yet”, Franky explains.  
  
“So, a table for seven. I’ll text you the time once I’ve made the reservation”, Nami interrupts their exchange, writing down the new piece of information on a note in her phone. “From there on, we’ll go with the flow”.  
  
“I’m not sure we’ll be able to join you”, Usopp butts in. “Sakazuki is giving us a test tomorrow and I am little behind with his subject. My plan was to pull an all-nighter and study”.  
  
“And I’ll probably spend the rest of the evening with my parents. It’s the first time since the beginning of the summer that they’re both home at the same time”, Kaya adds. Her family is very united, but both her parents have very complicated, highly time-consuming jobs, so now that she’s almost an adult and can take of herself, trips abroad have intensified a lot. “I’m sorry, guys”.  
  
“Don’t worry. You both go and enjoy your night”, Nami waves them off.  
  
She just wants to have some fun and spend some time with her friends outside of school, before that time of the year comes when they are drowning in homework and can barely put their noses out of their houses once a week, it’s not like this is some big event that’s mandatory to participate in.   
  
Seven people is fine, enough to take her mind off some things she really doesn’t want to think about.  
  
Like the blond young man sitting next to her, who’s downright staring at her and doing nothing to at least try to conceal it. Her temperature rises for some reason and she suddenly feels as if there is not enough oxygen in the room. She needs fresh air.   
  
“So, it’s twenty minutes before the last two hours of class”, she exclaims, standing up and pretending to look at the wristwatch she’s not even wearing today. “I have some papers I need to pick up in HR, so I’ll be going there now. I’ll see you either back in class or tonight. Kaya, Usopp, I’ll see you tomorrow”.  
  
Nami’s out of the cafeteria and up the first staircase in less than a minute, strolling with haste through the labyrinth of hallways. She doesn’t really need to go to HR, but since she’s class representative the lie is believable enough, and the first thing she has managed to come up with. This is bad. She’s a much better liar than this.   
  
“Nami! _Nami-swan_!”  
  
Someone up there must really, really hate her.

* * *

The car stops just outside of the gate. There’s a shuffle of curtains behind one of the windows on the ground floor, timed perfectly to coincide with the moment Saul pulls away in the vehicle.   
  
Nami’s house looks very modern, black and white, surrounded by a well-trimmed garden of colorful flowers.  
  
Robin doesn’t even need to knock for the door to open in front of her.  
  
She’s not sure why she has been invited to get ready at Nami’s house, but ever since she met the orange-haired she has felt the strange need to be liked by her, so what’s getting ready one hour earlier in the great scheme of things, if her friend so evidently wants to spend some time with her?   
  
“You’re finally here”, the younger girl grabs her by the wrist, pulls her inside and shuts the door close.   
  
The silence is eerie inside the house. “Come with me, I’ll show you my room”.  
  
They climb up one row of stairs, then another, until they reach the upper floor, which for the most part is dedicated to Nami’s sleeping quarters: most of the décor in her room is in some shade of tangerine, the furniture a light wooden tone that blends perfectly with the off white of the walls. Two doors are on the wall opposite to her bed, one leads to the private bathroom and another to her closet, which, in Robin’s opinion, is anything but necessary.   
  
No one could possibly wear that amount of clothes, but she has been quick to learn that shopping is the way Nami copes with stress most efficiently, so she refrains from pointing it out.  
  
Robin’s absent-mindedly checking her appearance in the mirror when a cry rises behind her back.  
  
“ _Uh_ , Robin! I thought we were supposed to get ready together”, Nami chastises. “I love your dress, though. Purple really is your color, _mh_? I think I have something with a similar cut in here”.  
  
She opens some drawers, fidgets a little around the shoes section, but eventually chooses her outfit.   
  
She starts removing her clothes halfway on her way to the bathroom, leaving Robin to stare, a little confused, at the back of her lingerie-clad body.   
  
She has never had a _girl_ -friend, or a friend at all, so it’s a bit baffling to witness the ease with which Nami acts around her, as if they’ve known each other forever.   
  
Maybe she’s just very confident about her body, she thinks, and it’s not like underwear unveils much more than a bathing suit. People will always be peculiar about exposing their bodies, one way or another, but it’s a deliberate choice, there’s not something inherently wrong with the way those bodies are shaped.  
  
“Thank you for coming, anyway”, Nami continues, raising her voice so that she can be heard from inside the bathroom. There’s the sound of a zip closing, then she returns to the bedroom and places herself in front of the mirror, where she starts playing with her hair. “I really needed someone with a fresh perspective to vent to. I know pretty much what everyone else in the crew would say, and it’s not the kind of matter that I’d like to discuss with Luffy or Zoro”.  
  
The brunette does her best to contain her reaction to the last name, which is limited to a mere contraction of her pupils and a little warmth spreading lazily on her cheeks, but the latter should be covered by make-up.  
  
Her thoughts always get a bit fuzzy whenever a certain classmate is brought up. He’s a nice guy to be around, that’s what this is, and even though she spends more time looking at him out of the corner of her eye than she’d ever admit, Robin doesn’t plan on doing nothing about it.  
  
Of course, she didn’t put on her favorite dress today for anyone _but_ herself.

* * *

“What’s bothering you?”  
  
Nami finds herself questioning the brilliancy of her plan, now that the chance of asking for an outside opinion has come up and Robin seems willing to indulge her.  
  
“How do you break up with someone you’re not even dating? How do you move on? I have… _Uh_ , I have this friend, she has liked this guy for a little while now, but she doesn’t want to go out with him. She is sure they would _never_ work, no matter how they go about it”, Nami explains with a shaky voice. “She is sure of that, but apparently she can’t stop thinking about this guy. She came to me for advice, but I wasn’t of much help. I thought maybe you would have some suggestions for her”.  
  
Robin would be offended by her assumption, if only she couldn’t see straight through her lies, realizing there is no friend involved here, but only Nami asking her to play along and pretend they’re not talking about her. “I’m not sure I can be of much help either, but I’ll try”, the brunette reassures her. “Your friend… Why is she so sure that she and this boy she likes wouldn’t work out? It sounds like he’s not aware of her feelings”.  
  
“And he’ll _never_ be”, the other is suspiciously quick to assert. “From what she said, he’s not someone you’d call relationship material. He falls in love with pretty much any woman who breathes”.   
  
“I don’t it’s fair to judge how this guy would act in a relationship if he has never been in one, though. Unless he’s known to be a player, I mean. With this I’m not saying she should consider dating him just because he’d like her to do so, but you’ve said she likes him a lot, so maybe the problem here is that she thinks he doesn’t like her back? Well, not more than he likes another woman who breathes”.  
  
“I wouldn’t know that…”, Nami pauses to consider this last idea. She has grown fond of Sanji years after making sure he would know she was _off-limits_. He probably never even entertained the idea, and the kindness he always shows her probably has more to do with his chivalrous persona, rather than some alleged special affection for her.   
  
“Anyway, any tips for my friend?”  
  
“Do _you_ know him?”  
  
“How’s that relevant? Yes, _yes_ , I do”.  
  
“Do you think he likes her, Nami?”   
  
_Checkmate_.  
  
“ _Maybe_? But he also might be dating someone else and my friend would never get in the way of that”, she shakes her head. _Close enough_.   
  
“Like I said, she’s adamant they wouldn’t work”.  
  
“Well, I hope your friend doesn’t like him too much, then. She wouldn’t want to confess her feelings for him once he has already moved on”, Robin concludes. “I’m afraid only time will help her”.  
  
It’s probably not what Nami was hoping to hear.

* * *

Franky and Sanji are the first two people who pull up in the Hibiscus’ parking lot, thanks to the latter’s constant devotion for punctuality.   
  
Time management is an essential skill inside the kitchen and, _why not_ , outside of it, too; he hates it when people show up late for their reservations and he has to deal with the tantrums they throw once they realize their table has been given to someone else.   
  
Sometimes, however, the Vinsmoke prince takes things a bit too far, it’s all or nothing when it comes to him, so the duo has quite some time to kill while standing at the restaurant’s bar, sipping on their drinks of choice as they wait for the rest of the group to join them.   
  
Chopper arrives fifteen minutes or so after them, ten minutes earlier than their scheduled appointment for eight p.m., followed by Zoro; the latter has spent more time at the dojo today than he anticipated, his green hair is still damp from the quick shower he took afterwards.  
  
He has made some decent progress on a new move he’s been working on – _believe it or not_ , holding one sword in his mouth doesn’t make it very easy to come up with new and flashy ways to use it – one for which he still needs to find a name, and not even the sight of the ero-cook’s curly eyebrows as his blue eyes narrow at him is enough to provoke him.  
  
He can’t remember another period in his life where he has felt as constantly chill as he does now, as if nothing and no one can get in his way. Besides from the whole Chopper-incident, Zoro feels quite invincible lately. He’s not sure how long it’ll last, but he’s certainly enjoying the sensation.  
  
“Where’s Nami and the others?”, it’s the first thing he asks once both greetings and the mandatory nasty exchange with the blond idiot are out of the way. Unlike him, Sanji seems less confident than he usually is, he responds with less fire to his taunts and the strange behavior is starting to bother him. “Have you been waiting for long?”  
  
“Robin just sent a message in the group-chat. They should be here soon”, Chopper tells him, looking up from the screen of his phone. “Vivi, on the other hand, has been offline for hours”.  
  
“I’m sure the girls will join us very soon”, Sanji pirouettes with heart-shaped eyes. “As beautiful as ever!”  
  
“…such a lost cause”.  
  
“What was that, _marimo_?”   
  
The two are jostling each other when Nami and Robin approach the bar thirty seconds later, too focused on their mutual dislike to even notice the two have arrived, one minute ahead of the clock.  
  
“Why are you two always fighting?”, Nami shakes her head, sighing defeatedly. At this point she has usually already smacked both their heads, but tonight she doesn’t look like she cares. Normally being the one that separates them when they argue, her strange behavior rings a bell in both boys’ heads. “It got _old_ a long time ago. Do me a favor and don’t cause a scene. I like this restaurant”.  
  
 _Ouch_. Such coldness can only mean one thing, or so Zoro, who has known her since they were children, believes: someone here has done something to really piss her off and, rapidly thinking back of their interactions over the last week, he is pretty sure he’s not the one who should be hold accountable for her wrath.  
  
 _That_ – and the daggers her hazelnut eyes are glaring at _dart-brow_. It’s weird, because Nami’s unusually forgiving when it comes to the blond sap, she gets mad at him or Luffy for much, much less.  
  
Sanji gulps under her ominous stare, aware, too, that something he has done his sweet mellorine has not appreciated, but he’s been wrecking his brain for days looking for a reason, and he’s still none the wiser.  
  
After today’s interactions, he’s now pretty convinced this argument they’re having is the biggest one they’ll probably ever had. He hates that he doesn’t know what they’re supposedly arguing about.  
  
“You’re so beautiful tonight, Nami- _swan_ ”, he tries to get a hold of her hand, but she’s quicker and takes a step back. Sanji is equally fast in hiding his disappointment. There’s another lady he has the _duty_ to compliment, he can start mending his broken heart later. “Robin-ch _w_ an, what a lovely sight you are!”, he places a gentle kiss on her hand, in the same way he has been taught to do in his lessons of palace etiquette, with his lips far away from her actual skin. “Where’s the Princess?”  
  
“I’m here”, a breathless Vivi shows up, hugging her friends and apologizing profusely for being late.  
  
Technically, she’s at fault for just a minute. Since she’s usually one of the most punctual people in the entire group, beaten only by Nami, Sanji and, sometimes, Chopper, no one thinks an apology is even needed here.  
  
“Now that we’re all here…”, Nami calls the group back to order. “…Let’s go before they give away our table”.

* * *

The host who escorts them to their table, located in a remote, semi-secluded corner of the dining area, right next to the giant aquarium, is a tall, gaunt man with very long limbs and a strange mannerism.   
  
His makeup primarily consists of two red dots at the top of his cheekbones, and forest green glitter around both his eyes that’s arranged in the shape of hibiscus flowers. This _Mr. 2_ , that the name written on the plaque on his chest, has a huge grin on his lips, and despite all his quirks, he blends in well with the ambience of the restaurant.  
  
Everything, from the furniture to the actual dishes they serve, is very colorful. Purple is the predominant color, declined in various shades, it can be found in the tablecloths and curtains, in the furniture, and in the uniforms worn by the entire staff. Men and women wear the same tuxedo, consisting of mulberry pants and fitted jacket, and a white shirt, with black, slightly heeled black boots.   
  
“One of the waiters will be with you shortly to pick up your orders”, the host instructs the group of seven, his huge, over-whelming grin still in place. “Enjoy your stay at the Hibiscus, ladies and gentlemen”.   
  
Mr. 2 leaves quietly after that, walking his way back to the entrance at a fast, yet elegant pace. There’s something eerie in his stroll, as if he’s almost fluctuating, dancing on the ground rather than stepping on it.  
  
“They’ve changed the menu”, Sanji notes, glancing down at the _Entrees_ section.  
  
He tries not to give too much thought to the fact Nami has deliberately sat as far away from him as possible and he’s now sandwiched between Zoro, at one head of the table, and Franky.   
  
Further on the right, at the other hand of the table, sits Vivi, then the orange-haired girl, followed suit by Robin and Chopper.  
  
Why is she so mad at him, _though_?   
  
The more he thinks about it, the more he feels the answer is slipping through his fingers, simple and yet impossible for him to unveil.  
  
Nami doesn’t ask for his culinary advice before placing her order as she normally would, but he remains quiet, he doesn’t utter a single word even as she lists dish after dish that he’s pretty sure she _won’t_ like, requesting a bit more food than he’ll probably eat when it’s finally his turn, so that if the dinner she has chosen it’s not one she enjoys, which he suspects to be the case, Sanji will have something to feed her even without a kitchen at his disposal. She may loathe the very ground he walks on right now, but it doesn’t mean he wishes her to be hungry for the rest of the night.  
  
If anything, feeding the hungry is a calling even stronger than chivalry.  
  
Chopper claps his hands together, setting down his menu. “I can’t wait to try the Okama soup”.  
  
While he might not look like it, especially when Luffy’s around, the youngest member of the group is a proper foodie, although he plays for the sweet-tooth faction.   
  
Maybe it’s because the best moments of his life are all connected to food, one way or the other, and there’s nothing he likes more than going out with his friends for a nice meal. Time flies by when you’re having fun and he stands by the statement.  
  
The Okama soup, which many chefs in town have tried to replicate, with little to zero success, turns out to be an authentic masterpiece: it’s not just the beautiful presentation, the dish looks so nice he almost feels guilty about touching it at first, it’s the velvety texture and supreme blend of flavors that really make it special and worthy of its fame. Seeing as he practically drools over it, Chopper’s friends take a mental note to try it for the themselves the next time they end up eating in this restaurant.  
  
“We’re lucky the Baratie offers a very different cuisine”, is Sanji’s verdict once the black angus rests in his belly. “This place would be some serious competition”.  
  
His love for cooking goes _beyond_ the simplistic boundary of appreciating a single place, even though Zeff is the chef who’s training him and his establishment what he considers the best restaurant of Grand Line City. He’s confident enough in the Baratie’s irreplaceable qualities to admit someone else’s well-doing in the field.  
  
“The food surely is interesting”, says Nami, poking the strange-looking fish parts in her plate. She should have known better than to order the dish with the weirdest name. “Unlike any other place”.  
  
The girl seemingly gives up on it, glancing wistfully at the untouched lamb chops sitting next to his now empty plate. She doesn’t ask for it even when it’s clear he has no intention to touch it, so Sanji just pushes the plate in her direction, as their conversation from lunchbreak replays in his mind.

* * *

_“Nami! Nami-swan!”_   
  
_Her eyes are as cold as ice as she turns around, lips flattened in a crooked grimace. Everything, in her body language, suggests she does not want to talk to him right now.  
  
“Leave me alone, Sanji-kun”._   
  
_There’s no tone of endearment in the suffix, the sound comes out almost serpentine as it’s forcefully pushed out of gritted teeth. Her stance his hard, with tight shoulders, and she fidgets nervously with the smartphone in her right hand.  
  
She refuses to look at him._   
  
_“You said you were fine, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore”, he utters, not sure if this is the best way to go about it.  
  
If Nami has one flaw, it’s the way she reacts when someone points out her mistakes or incoherence.   
  
“So, what’s up with that, Nami-swan?”_   
  
_Their eyes finally meet, but her stare is much tougher than he would expect._ _“Maybe I lied”, she hisses, walking past Sanji._   
  
_The faint scent of her shampoo hits his nostrils for a moment, but it’s gone as quickly as it has appeared._   
  
_“Leave me alone”, she repeats, disappearing around the corner, heading in the opposite direction of HR._

* * *

Leaving her alone – Sanji’s not sure he would ever be able to do that.   
  
She’s not just the most amazing girl – hell, _person_ – he has ever met, not to mention the _prettiest_ , and the one with whom he’s really comfortable enough to be truly himself.   
  
Nami isn’t just someone he loves, she’s his best friend. He has never cared for someone’s happiness as much as he cares for hers.  
  
It’s your typical case of love at first sight, he looked at her once five years ago and _boom_ , he was completely and utterly doomed, but deep down he has always known that she would never look at him twice, not in _that_ sense, and that she deserves someone much, much better than him.   
  
The thought of actually asking her out has never crossed Sanji’s conscious mind (when he’s asleep _anything_ is fair game) but he has tried dating someone else last year, and it was a complete disaster on every single front.   
  
That’s why calling Viola his girlfriend was mean and unnecessary.  
  
If he could, he would have moved on from his unreciprocated feelings a long time ago.  
  
He’s still thinking of the unfairness of it all, being so tied to someone who couldn’t possibly love you back, not now nor ever, someone you hold in such high regard you would never wish someone as bland as yourself on them, as the group now skips the line and walks into the Phoenix’s Nest, where they are supposed to meet up with Luffy and his brothers and have a couple drinks with them.

* * *

Franky has left right after dinner, having received the call he wished for, but it’s still very early in the night, just about ten p.m., so the others make themselves comfortable at the captain’s table and order the first round of shots.   
  
It’s not exactly rare for Ace and Sabo to hang out with their little brother’s friend from time to time, but Robin has never met the latter before, so introductions are in order.  
  
From the moment they shake hands, the two just _click_ , ending up sitting next to each other and launching into a long, complicated discussion over one of their favorite books which nobody else is able to follow.  
  
Zoro watches the exchange out of the corner of his eye, and while he’d prefer to be the one interacting with her, he’s still glad she seems to be having a nice time.   
  
She has been acting a little weird since Basil’s party last week, and while she shared with some of them the reason why the experience was so traumatic, after the things she has said to him the morning after in front of coffee, the green-haired boy is pretty sure it all runs a little deeper than she wants them to believe.  
  
“ _Ne_ , guys. How are you planning to win the race this year?”, Ace pipes up at some point. “It seems you’ve got pretty strong opponents to watch out for. I can’t believe CP9 is still there and the Whitebeards are not”.   
  
Sabo laughs, rolling his eyes at him. While he did sympathize with him in the beginning, his brother has been complaining about it for over two years. Now that he’s about to start his third year of university, it’s time he lets go. His crew won the race three times when they were students, after all.  
  
“Maybe they’ll disappear if the Straw-Hats eliminate them this year”.  
  
“Maybe they will”, Nami concedes. “I’m afraid it’s your old crew that will be causing us most of the trouble, though. They’re certainly not above playing dirty”.  
  
Her eyes surreptitiously shift to Chopper and both of Luffy’s brothers are soon to pick up. Ace was there for breakfast a couple of days ago, when Garp detailed the information he’d gotten out of his grandson the night before, and he has shared it with his other brother the other day as the two were apartment hunting.  
  
“That’s unfortunate”, Sabo shakes his head. “This is not what the race is about”.  
  
“You don’t need to tell _us_ ”, Nami insists. She has been friends with Luffy since kindergarten, so she’s the one, besides from Zoro, who’s the most comfortable interacting with her older brothers. Usopp still loses, to this day, his ability to speak properly when _FireFist_ Ace addresses him directly. “But we’ll handle them no matter what they come onto us with”.  
  
“Oh, I _like_ this girl”, Ace grins, clapping his hands. “That’s the spirit, Nami- _chan_ ”.  
  
It's a nickname she hated when she was a child and people used it to patronize her.   
  
She has blackmailed almost everyone in her life to make it disappear, but there’s still some people who remember just how much it grates on her nerves and are bashful enough to have fun at her expense. Unfortunately, Ace is one of them.  
  
“I don’t like _you_ , though”, she mumbles, although his smile is very contagious and soon she finds herself returning it. “So, got any tips on…” – _how to mend a broken heart_? _Damn_ , she has asked the question to Robin so many times today, that she has almost let it slip out of her lips – “…How to deal with unfair opponents?”  
  
“Make sure someone in your team reads the entire regulation. It hasn’t been updated over the decades, so things do get a little dangerous and bloody sometimes, but certain actions are most definitely forbidden. If I’m not mistaken, there’s some records of teams getting kicked out of the tournament before”, Sabo pipes up. “In short, know at all times whether the rules are playing with you or _against_ you”.  
  
“ _Shishishi_ , I think you’re worrying too much”, Luffy suddenly retorts. “If they try to play dirty… Then I’ll just kick their asses”.  
  
One brother seems supportive of the statement, raising his glass at him, whilst the other just facepalms and addresses the orange-haired girl once more.  
  
“That’s exactly what I was talking about”, Sabo chuckles, “While you can still challenge another player in combat, only certain forms of it are accepted and they can be performed only by opponents who are considered equal. If there happens to be another swordsman in the opposing team, then I think Zoro, for example, could technically ask them for a _duel_ , but I really can’t think of a single instance in the race that would warrant such a drastic response. Not to mention that drawing blood from a schoolmate is _obviously_ very much forbidden, so if by any chance someone gets hurt, both participants would be immediately banned from the competition”.   
  
The Straw-Hats present here tonight listen closely to the former student’s advice, but Luffy is unfazed.  
  
“Problem solved”, he announces, proudly. “I’ll kick their asses while holding a sword”.  
  
The others laugh, but he has never been very good at defining the thin line between laughing _of_ someone or _with_ them. Luffy just feels something very warm inside when other people are happy _around_ him.  
  
“Let’s leave the swords to those who can handle them, _aye_ , captain?”, Zoro intervenes.  
  
He can’t even begin to imagine how much his precious blades would suffer in the hands of this… _savage_ , or how much _he_ would if presented with such an ominous sight.  
  
“We all know you would get lost before you even find this hypothetical swordsman, _moss-head_ ”.  
  
“Beware, _dart-brow_. Nothing stops me from cutting you now”, the green-haired boy bites back, although it’s all bark and no bite, because he would never use his swords outside of an official setting, that’s the first rule of swordsmanship, unless something really crazy happens and his safety or someone else’s is in danger.   
  
But the _idiot_ doesn’t need to know that, does he?   
  
“Bet I could do it with my bare hands”.   
  
Chopper avoids conflict like the plague, so he gets smaller and smaller on his seat and sips quietly from his drink while carrying out his conversation with Robin, but he’s only half-heartedly into it now.   
  
He hates it when his friends argue with each other.   
  
The girl, too, seems displeased with their behavior, only it turns out she’s much better at hiding it.   
  
Vivi rolls her eyes at the pair, wondering for the umpteenth time why the two are constantly at each other’s throats. At this point, it seems like they do it just out of habit.  
  
Nami was not picturing _this_ when she asked her friends if they wanted to go out tonight, so knowing things have escalated abysmally quickly in past occasions, she wisely decides to put an end to their fight _asap_.   
  
Smacking the bottom of her now empty glass on the table, she lets her eyes do the talking for her, glaring daggers at the pair until they are seemingly chastised enough and lower the tones of their discussion.  
  
“Back to business, where did that waiter go?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done. The double update it's complete. 💖  
> I'm sorry it took this long, I should be able to go back to the previous schedule now (2-3 new chapters per week). 
> 
> Before I stop monopolizing your attention, here are some clarifications: 
> 
> 1) While I'm trying to be loyal to the original story whenever it's possible (ex. Robin's previous association with Crocodile, Vivi being the future queen of Alabasta, Luffy's obsession with meat and so on), I can't possibly incorporate all the original plot points. That's why Mr. 2 is not a part of Crocodile's entourage, but a member of the " _good guys_ " team already.
> 
> 2) This chapter is mostly focused on SaNami, as the beginning of the next one, then we'll be back to ZoRobin. I'm telling you, those two are going to be frustrating... You heard Nami, right? She thinks she has it all figured out, doesn't she? Unfortunately for her, I'm the one who ultimately decides what her feelings for Sanji are, lmao. 
> 
> 3) Please, put away your pitchforks. I know, I know... Chopper didn't deserve any of that, but, objectively, he is the easy target. The type of person I imagine would push him and Bepo in the pool (what do you guys think, was it an accident? or do you want to kick asses like Luffy?) is despicable enough to go after someone who can't, or won't, defend themselves... Actually, that's the main reason they would do it. Don't worry, karma WILL settle every score by the time this story ends (not sure when, but I can already tell that it will be long). 
> 
> 4) So... Garp, Ace, Sabo. Even Dadan. What do you guys think? It's kind of hard to envision them and Luffy living constantly under the same roof, considering the unusual upbringing the ASL brothers had in the manga/anime. I hope I'm not butchering them too much. 
> 
> I hope this update found you well and my sincerest, deepest thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment on chapter 5th. It's probably dumb but I feel so, idk, _special_ whenever you take the time to tell me what you think about my story.  
> Have a lovely day! 🥰💖


	8. Stressed Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which someone unexpected pops up in Grand Line City and plans are made for a certain pair to spend some quality time together during the weekend.

For all intents and purposes, many things are typical about tonight, like Luffy deserting them soon after their arrival, loyally committed to the engagement he has with his brothers, but what’s not so typical is that the remaining Straw-Hats have all ended up scattered in different corners of the club, alone or in pairs.  
  
They’re usually a pretty tight-knit group, so this is quite strange.  
  
Nami has stationed herself at the bar, followed by Sanji, but she’s doing her best to ignore him, while Vivi was lastly spotted near the dancefloor.  
  
Zoro has left for the bathroom twenty minutes later or so, but he has taken too long to find his way back to the table and by the point he got there everyone else was gone.  
  
Chopper is catching up with a friend from the robot-club, of which both he and Franky are members, with Robin standing idly at his right side, having not spoken a word besides from introducing herself to a guy named Shachi. She keeps herself occupied by pretending to look at her phone, but there are no new messages which she needs to reply to, besides she knows she’s probably starting to seem rude.  
  
Not that Chopper’s friend is making even the smallest effort to invite her into their conversation.  
  
Robin doesn’t recognize the names they use to describe the assembling parts they claim to love so dearly and to be honest she has never understood the passion some people seem to have for mecha-aesthetics. But everyone has their taste and preferences and her friend looks very engrossed in his chat; since the main purpose of tonight was to take Chopper’s mind out of last week’s incident, when a glimpse of Zoro’s shirt appears in the corner of her eye, she doesn’t have to think about it twice before politely excusing herself.  
  
She invites the two to enjoy themselves, tells Chopper to simply call or text her when he feels like regrouping and quickly puts some distance between herself and the pair, following the same route a certain green head has taken not long ago.  
  
 _He’s lucky his hair is so uncommon_ , she muses. _People couldn’t find him otherwise_.  
  
Especially since he has this weird penchant for getting lost even in the smallest of locations and even though Robin was only one minute, one minute and a half behind him, he has already blended into the crowd, and now she can’t find him.  
  
With a wistful sigh, she takes a left when she stumbles upon a crossroad and continues her search.  
  
The Phoenix’s Nest is spacious, not limitless. She’ll find him eventually.

* * *

Nami taps her manicured hand on the bar’s counter, shifting her weight from one leg to the other as she sits on the barstool and ordering another round of Marco’s latest creation, a fruity, pink-colored mixture with a taste so sweet it doesn’t even feels as if there’s any alcohol in it, which, in retrospective, won’t probably be for the best since she has class tomorrow and this stuff goes down like orange juice.  
  
She’s also drinking to relax and unwind, so to speak, but that’s obviously not quite possible as a set of familiar blue eyes has been staring at her for what feels like ages.  
  
The girl is aware she has kind of _fucked_ things up with him this afternoon, because she promised she’d bury things under the sand and blew up in his face instead. So now he knows she’s somewhat mad at him, but she can’t tell him why.  
  
Nami’s grateful he’s granting her the space she has asked for and that he has not tried to talk to her since joining her at the bar, but at the same time she’s a little upset about it, because the thought Sanji could give up on her has never crossed her mind before.  
  
Now that it does, however, she’s not sure she likes it.  
  
She’s about to turn around and demand he stops looking at her right this instant, but her jaw drops and the words die in her mouth as she notices that he has returned his attention to the bottle of scotch he has in front of him.  
  
It seems Sanji isn’t too comfortable with the silence between them either.  
  
He's virtually guiltless, she knows that, but, even then, she can’t bring herself to extend the proverbial olive branch. Apologies are not something she excels at, it’s the opposite, as a matter of fact: realizing she’s in the wrong is one thing but admitting it out loud is an entirely different story.  
  
“I’m sorry”, she sighs, eventually, when the bartender’s poor attempts at keeping her company become too much to bear. She thought it would be clear that she is _not_ interested the third time he asked her out and she said no, but apparently it’s not the case. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like I did”.  
  
Q.E.D., Sanji is still paying some degree of attention to her, because his response is immediate. The blond frowns, one curly brow almost touching the other. “What for?”  
  
If he has been confused about her scene earlier today, now he’s downright flabbergasted.  
  
He’s obviously the one who has fucked up, albeit he’s not exactly sure why, she has shown animosity towards him for days, so how come she’s suddenly apologizing and blaming herself for what transpired between them?  
  
“Everything, I guess”, Nami replies. “You did nothing and I still took out my frustrations on you. That was very wrong of me, Sanji-kun. I apologize”.  
  
“That’s… That’s fine, I think. _I_ \- I should have realized you would talk to me about your problems in your own time, if you ever wanted to do so. I shouldn’t have insisted so much…”  
  
“Let’s move on, shall we?”, she cuts him off, offering up her glass for a toast. “Thank you for that lamb”.  
  
Sanji smirks. He was sure she would end up needing the back-up dish he ordered for her.  
  
“You are very welcome, Nami-s _w_ an”.

* * *

“…Unfortunately, I found myself in a tight spot. Of course, I couldn’t foresee that little _bitch_ helping the princess escape. If she didn’t put her nose where it didn’t belong, who’s to say my father wouldn’t be the new king of Alabasta already? She could have minded her own _fucking_ business, but _no_ , she had to go and force me and my family to flee the country in the middle of the night like criminals”.  
  
Now, there aren’t many things which she’s actually afraid of, but Vivi would recognize this voice anywhere, it’s the stuff her nightmares are made of, after all, and she has hoped she’d never have to hear it again.  
  
But here is she is, in a club in Grand Line City, where she’s supposed to be safe and it turns out she isn’t.  
  
What is _Crocodile_ doing here?  
  
Her paralysis lasts but a second and quickly she’s jolting for the toilette, from where she plans to use her phone to alert her father. She has never felt more glad for the bodyguards who follow her around, although King Cobra has never mentioned a word about them, which hurts, because it’s like he doesn’t trust her, and technically she’s supposed not to know about them.  
  
Vivi has already spotted two in her time inside of the Phoenix’s Nest, and she’s sure there are more scattered on the perimeter outside.  
  
Whilst confident Crocodile won’t try anything tonight, she can’t stop the blood from pumping furiously in her heart. He probably doesn’t know she’s here and she doesn’t plan on advertising her presence, but she still dreads the hypothetical moment their eyes would meet. If she doesn’t handle this carefully, all the work she has done with her therapist over the last year would be vanified.  
  
Once inside the bathroom, Vivi occupies one of the stalls and dials Cobra’s personal number.  
  
It’s already four in the morning down in Alubarna, so she’s not surprised when nobody answers the phone and a mechanic voice invites her to leave a message.  
  
“Dad, it’s _me_ … You know how Crocodile and his father disappeared into thin air before their trial? I’m not sure about the rest of his family, but the son’s _here_ , in Grand Line City. I’ve just seen him with my very eyes. I’m leaving this place now, and I’m sure the guys you’re paying to follow me will escort me safely back home, but I thought you’d want to know. _I_ … I’d like to talk to you tomorrow… Goodbye”.

* * *

“Do I even want to know what you’re doing in here?”  
  
She arches politely one of her feathery, dark eyebrows, blue eyes landing on the objective of her previous quest, who’s sitting at the bottom of the staircase.  
  
Zoro is numbly scrolling on his phone, with his back against the railing, green strands dripping sweat from hairline to forehead.  
  
The boy seems in terrible shape, pale and haggard. His brain takes a little longer than usual to register the external input and he very, very slow raises his head and looks up at her.  
  
“ _Hey_. I’ve been looking for you guys…”  
  
“What’s up with you?” Robin is by his side in less than ten seconds. From up close, her classmate’s exhaustion is even more explicit. “Are you feeling sick?”  
  
“It’s… I’m fine, everything’s fine”, he shakes his head, lightly. His breath is a bit more elaborated than it should. “I was just feeling a little dizzy, so I thought I would sit here for a bit. I think it’s my blood pressure or something like that, I don’t know. I guess I’ve just pushed myself a little too much today”.  
  
The girl sits next to him with a small smile, albeit she’s still concerned about him. Zoro _did_ say he would spend most of the afternoon at the dojo, but it’s still weird to think _swords_ -training could be so brutal. From the little she has read about the discipline its students are encouraged to treat their bodies better than this.  
  
“Was it worth it?”, is what she asks, even though the urge to nag him to death for his irresponsibility it’still strong. “Why did you push yourself so hard, _mh_?”  
  
Robin tilts her head on one side, resting her right cheek on the palm of her hand. She does her best not to sound disparaging, but she’s yet to come up with a reason that would warrant the sight before her. She doesn’t like the discomfort on his face, or the paleness, especially since it could have all been avoided.  
  
His commitment to the sport is commendable, but she’s pretty sure that its purpose would be to make you stronger, not beating you up until you pass out.  
  
Whatever he is trying to achieve, surely there’s a healthier way to do it. She’s worried about it – _him_.  
  
But something tells her she’ll achieve nothing if she expresses her concern now and metaphorically kicks him just as hard, so she keeps her expression neutral, waiting patiently for his answer.  
  
“I’ve been working on something new lately, but I’ve been side-tracked a lot. Anyway, today I finally perfected it”, he shares, almost excitedly, but his smirk quickly morphs into a grimace of pain. “Only last night I didn’t sleep much and tonight I’ve had a little too much to drink, so when I started running in circles trying to find my way back to the table, _err_ …”  
  
Zoro scratches the back of his head, a little color finally returning to his cheeks.  
  
“Maybe you can show it to me some day”, she offers, but the end of her statement doesn’t sound quite as confident as the beginning. _What the hell are you thinking, Nico Robin_? – she scolds herself, internally. Her attempts at covering her tracks are probably even stupider. “ _Uh_ , I mean… I’ve read of many duels, but I’ve never seen one with my own eyes and you’re, _well_ , the only swordsman I know. So, _yeah_ …”  
  
She could pretend to be drunk, but she has barely brushed her lips against the single glass of wine she ordered tonight, whilst Nami, of course, didn’t miss the opportunity to comment on it.   
  
Zoro doesn't seem to notice her nervousness, or at least he doesn’t point it out. If not feeling better, he has been very much distracted since she has sat next to him on the steps.  
  
Besides, he kind of likes the idea of showing off in the only field he can truly say he one day will master.  
  
“What about this weekend?”, he asks.  
  
Robin may have not touched her drink, but he has had several, so his tongue is unusually loose and he’s not too concerned with the meaning of his words. He’s just going with what feels natural, which is something he generally does anything in his power to avoid. But again, he has been pushing himself the whole day, hasn’t he? Then why should he stop now?  
  
“I usually train at the dojo on Thursdays and Saturdays, but I have all the necessary equipment at my house, too, since my father is a swordsman as well”, he elaborates. “Both options would work for me”.  
  
“I’ll think about it”, Robin replies.  
  
Her answer is not too bad, he supposes, but it’s still not the one he was hoping for. Well, he can’t really blame her if she’s not that interested in swords. It’s a very niche hobby.  
  
What she says next, however, sounds much, much better.  
  
“If I agree to come by on Saturday, would you be willing not to train and rest until then?”

* * *

Little after midnight, only Robin and Chopper are still capable of driving.  
  
Zoro has sobered up, but he’s still not feeling too well, whilst Nami and Sanji would have their licenses retired the moment they put themselves behind a steering wheel, and rightfully so.  
  
Vivi says her driver’s on the way and that she’s willing to drop home anyone who wants a ride, so Chopper decides to leave with her, and the orange-haired girl asks Robin if she is willing to drive her car on their way back to her home.  
  
Since the other really doesn’t want to wait for a taxi, she agrees.  
  
His apartment is not very far from here, so Sanji plans on walking his way home and pick up his car in the morning, while the green-haired boy is offered the backseat of Nami’s car, which he accepts.  
  
Once they’re all set, they bid their goodbyes outside the Phoenix’s Nest and make for their cars, but not before Vivi tells Robin that she needs to speak with her in the morning, with a tone that sends a chill down her spine. She agrees, of course, but she can’t shake away the feeling that it’ll be something she won’t like.  
  
Nami has fallen asleep after they dropped Zoro at his home and once she is safely tucked under her bedsheets, the brunette walks her way out of the villa and makes sure the door is properly closed behind her. Her sister’s out of town again, so Nami’s home alone tonight.  
  
It's a little after one in the morning when Robin reaches her apartment and finally climbs up the stairs, kicking away her shoes the moment she steps inside of her home, thankful that she hasn’t left the windows open, so everything feels nice and warm. She goes very hastily through her bedtime routine before putting on her favorite pajama and settling herself on the bed, where she tries her hardest to sleep, but slumber, as she can’t stop thinking about everything she has lived through tonight, is hard to catch. 

* * *

* * *

Most Straw-Hats are late for school in the morning, or at least those that were at the club last night.  
  
Truth is, some of them, like Zoro and Nami, aren’t too likely to show up for class today.  
  
Fujitora crosses out their names with a frown on his face, displeased with their absence, glaring at Robin and Vivi as they bow their heads and apologize for being late.  
  
He still allows them to take their seats, however.  
  
The blue-haired girl has never strayed once before in the five years she has been his student, while the new student’s academical records speak for themselves.  
  
They don’t seem to be the type of kids who would disrespect their professor, and therefore their education, without a proper reason to do so. He, _of course_ , won’t indulge them shall the incident ever be repeated, but everyone should be granted the benefit of doubt when committing their first strike, which is precisely the reason he doesn’t implode when Tony Tony Chopper walks into the classroom five minutes after the final bell has ringed.  
  
His glass-eye is itching a little this morning, a clear signal that it’ll rain later this week, and he’s too concerned about the discomfort that causes him to be really bothered by the boy’s apologies. It’s not as if he could scold him for being summoned in the principal’s office early in the morning, after all, and he’s not the type of teacher who gets sadistically excited at their students’ suffering.  
  
Little Mr. Chopper already appears contrite enough as is, he probably knows Kureha would never let him hear the end of it and punish him exemplarily for upsetting one of her colleagues; having met the lady, a very brilliant, but equally scary woman of over sixty years, he finds himself instantly sympathizing with the boy.  
  
He’ll ask Sengoku what this was all about later today at their weekly poker game.   
  
He scratches his closed, right eyelid and puts on his reading glasses, eager to share his knowledge of Dressrosa’s natural resources with his students and hopefully manage to bestow on them their first Geography mark of the year before the end of the month.  
  
They need to know this year they’ll be required to step up their game.  
  
New Marineford is an old and proud institution, it’s not as if it allows just everyone to graduate. The school’s not only hyper-exclusive in how it recruits its students, its reputation requires for it to be super picky about those who come out of it with a degree, too.  
  
Some of the mechanisms in place here are the main reason behind Fujitora’s headaches, but he has tried to change the system in the past and to no use, so over the years he has learnt to keep to himself and trust very little people, and this strategy is working wonders for him.  
  
He launches himself into his lesson, asking a couple of times if there are any questions, but unsurprisingly barely anyone is interested in his subject and when they do ask questions it’s usually to dissipate the awkward silence.  
  
Two hours are filled by the echo of his own voice and his mind wanders as he repeats words that he has memorized decades before and reflects on the dozens of times he has taught this same class.  
  
Now and then, his pupils never seem to particularly enjoy the topic, but, as usual, he refuses to read the room.  
  
Is there anything more exciting than the prolific extraction of gold in the region of Balsa? He doesn’t think so.  
  
He puts his books and laptop inside his old bag, hanging it over one shoulder, puts the register back in its rightful place and bids his goodbye to the class, whose response, much to Fujitora’s dismay, is warmer than the one he has received for his earlier “Good morning”.  
  
 _Ungrateful brats_.  
  
“… _Ugh_ , I hate Caesar”, someone complains in the background.  
  
He hopes they don’t talk about him with the same revulsion, although he shares the sentiment. He has always wondered why Sengoku thought hiring Caesar Clown was a good idea.  
  
Later tonight at the poker game, he’ll make sure to ask him about that, too. 

* * *

“… _Ugh_ , I hate Caesar”, laments Yosaku.  
  
“He’s the worst”, adds Johnny, giving him a high-five. “What do _you_ think, Drake?”  
  
The first two follow the latter around as if he’s their _queen_ or something, hanging from his every word.  
  
They practically worship the ground Drake walks on, but the general consensus is that he probably wouldn’t bother speaking to either of them if they weren’t part of the football team as well, and it surely can’t be just a fortuitous coincidence that they seem unable to say _no_ to him, whether it’s about doing his homework for him or dumping girls in his place. No one disagrees with them now, however.  
  
The whole class hates the chemistry professor with a passion, even more so than they hate Sakazuki. The latter, at least, is never inappropriate. Unsufferable and the bane of their existence, of course, but not inappropriate.  
  
Drake plays for the Revolutionary Army in the tournament, so there’s been some friction between himself and the Straw-Hats in the past, but they are still on speaking terms and mutually civil overall.  
  
One could say he sits at the very top of the social pyramid and surrounds himself only with people who match his status. Johnny and Yosaku are the odd exceptions, but it’s not as if he ever lets people outside of their class seeing him in their company.  
  
“ _Meh_. I’m not sure Professor Kuro would be any better. Maybe there’s just something inherently wrong with chemistry professors as a whole”.  
  
It’s not even funny, but he’s too popular for people not to laugh.  
  
Even CP9 joins most of the class in their snickers, eager to stay in “X” Drake’s good graces. The nickname refers to his habit of ruining the social standing of those who dare defy him.  
  
“Wouldn’t you agree, Kalifa?”  
  
The blonde is somewhat flattered by the direct mention, but over the years she has learnt to ignore his flirting.  
  
The last thing she needs today is another argument with her boyfriend.  
  
Rob Lucci speaks few words and he’s quite gentlemanly most of the time, but he’s a little too overprotective of her, not to mention unhealthily jealous, and after a weekend spent screaming at each other over the bartender who allegedly stared at her a little too much on Friday – as if other people’s actions are her responsibility, _anyway_ – Kalifa really doesn’t want to restart the cycle all over again, not so soon.  
  
Her books never mentioned love can make you quite so anxious, but ever since she has started dating him two years before, he has constantly kept her on her toes and _not_ in a romantic way. If he was anyone else, then she would probably realize that relationships take efforts on both parts, but she has fallen for him a long time ago, so she can be a little blindsided when it comes to the way he behaves around her.  
  
“Maybe there is”, she concedes in a flat tone, shrugging. On her right side, Lucci doesn’t raise his head from the textbook he’s reading, so that bullet seems dodged for now.  
  
“Either way, I don’t care”.  
  
“It’s not like the others are much better, but at least they’re not crazy…”, trails off Urouge, who sits next to Drake, his best friend, and is also, coincidentally, the keeper and vice-captain of the football team. “Did you guys hear Scratchman’s last upload, anyway? That’s some dope _shit_ ”.  
  
 _Mad Monk_ Urouge is a bulky, cumbersome young man, with dark hair and eyes and a long hipster beard. He has an easy laugh and a tendency to prank other people, but, overall, he’s in good terms with the majority of the student body, and the soul of every party he shows up to ( _of course,_ he is always invited).  
  
Before all seventeen members of the class can launch into a lengthy discussion about the school’s most famous DJ’s latest released track, _Roar of the Sea_ , the chemistry professor enters the room.  
  
Caesar Clown is clearly in a foul mood this Wednesday morning, shoes clicking unpleasantly on the floor as he drags his feet to the teacher’s desk.  
  
For the first two hours of the school-day he has taught the first year’s class, a literal _hellhole_ where some of the worst students he has ever had seems to have been dumped into.  
  
That little _rascal_ Helmeppo has another thing coming if he thinks his disrespect will be tolerated much longer just because his father is a member of the board.  
  
Caesar may be a social climber, but he’s not pride-less.   
  
“ _Please_ stay in your seats and open the book at page thirty-five. Today we’ll be resuming what’s been already said in the previous years about chemical bonding. By the end of this hour I’d like to be over the basics of electronegativity. If there aren’t any questions about our last lesson, then I would jump right…”  
  
“Excuse me, Professor?”, a hand shots up and Caesar hopefully looks up, surprised that one of his students is actually making a conscious effort to better understand his subject.  
  
This would be commendable, if only…  
  
“May I go to the bathroom, sir?”  
  
The professor’s jaw clenches.  
  
“Stay put, Kaku. You can go during the break”. 

* * *

Sanji is always aware when a lady is in distress and usually he would go out of his way to revert the situation _immediately_ , but he can sense that whatever Vivi and Robin seem so upset about isn’t something he can question them about in public, so he patiently waits through the mid-morning break, and even at lunch he refrains, because the cafeteria is as packed as usual and one never knows when their conversations are being eavesdropped on, not in a school so full of gossips.   
  
The princess leaves the table half-way through her lasagna, mumbling something about a call she has been waiting, whilst in the moment she disappears Robin, who hasn’t spoken a word since they have sat here, altogether stops touching the food she has been just plucking at.  
  
This is never a good signal, in his modest opinion. When people refuse to eat, it’s always because they have some huge problem which they are worrying too much about.  
  
Like he said – it’s never good.  
  
“How was the rest of your night, Franky?” He decides to further postpone his intervention and wait for the end of class. “That _marimo_ got absolutely shit-faced”.  
  
“Oh, so that’s why Zoro’s not here. But what about Nami? She’s missing as well”.  
  
“She texted me earlier. She said she has a bit of a cold, so she decided to stay at home today”, says Kaya.  
  
“The _moss-head_ looked way worse than a cold”, Sanji chuckles. Every chance to take a dig at the _gorilla_ is appreciated, especially if he’s not around to bite back and Nami can’t be disappointed in him for doing so. Not that he appreciates the fact she has a cold, of course. “Maybe it’s finally the time we get rid of him”.  
  
“Enough of that, Sanji”, Luffy admonishes, although it is only half-hearted. He knows the two are friends despite the façade they are so adamant to keep up. They’re always at each other’s side when it really matters and that is enough for the captain to trust them even when they bicker. “Are you eating the rest of that lasagna, Robin-chan?”  
  
She hands him her plate before turning around and smiling at the blond cook, but it’s a cold one. “Both Zoro and Nami just needed some extra sleep. I’m sure they’ll show up for class as soon as tomorrow”.  
  
“Of course”, Sanji bites back his retort. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about”.  
  
Franky sighs loudly before opening his second can of cola. “I went home straight from the restaurant in the end, but not before wasting five hundred belies on gas only to be told to go back when I was halfway there”.  
  
“Man, that sucks”, Usopp chimes in, sympathetically. He knows what it feels like to be stood up. “I’m sorry”.  
  
“I’m sorry, Franky”, repeats Chopper. “People should know that it’s hurtful. Did they have a good reason, at least?”  
  
“Not really, but I don’t care”, the blue-haired boy shrugs, doing his best not to show how much it really affects him. “Maybe I’ll see him some other time, maybe I won’t. I don’t know _yet_ ”.  
  
Truth is, Iceburg did give him a reason, but it’s one he doesn’t want to share with the rest of the group.  
  
He still hasn’t decided if he’s willing to have an _open_ relationship, and even though he really, really likes the older guy, Franky is not sure he can forgive him for cancelling their plans last minute because something else ( _something better?_ ) came up.  
  
He’s not sure he wants to be someone’s side option.  
  
“Seems like we’re all in for a rough week”, Usopp notes. “Sakazuki’s test was a real nightmare”.  
  
Franky nods sharply. “Right? It wasn’t too difficult for me personally, but it’s clear that he wanted as many people as possible to fail and that’s not a good goal for a teacher. The question about the horse-toy was crazy”.  
  
“You got that one too? I agree, it needed a knowledge of the subject that is far beyond the tools he has given us so far”, Robin supplies. “We’re getting our results tomorrow and I suspect it’ll be a massacre”.  
  
“It’s the same thing every year”, adds Vivi, now back from her call. “I’m not sure how many correct answers were required to pass, but I’m lucky if I got more than three answers right”.  
  
Physics is that one subject she can’t bring herself to care about, unlike some of her friends, but she was prepared for Akainu’s little welcome back surprise and has already made a formal request for a tutor.  
  
She won’t let her struggles with the discipline affect her senior year more than it is strictly necessary.   
  
She has way bigger fishes to catch.  
  
As the others finish their meals and prepare to return to class, her thoughts drift to her earlier conversation with her father, and her confidence swings. 

* * *

“Hello? Vivi? It’s dad… _Ugh_ , you never know if these things are working correctly. They just keep getting smaller and smaller every year… Darling? Are you there?”  
  
“Hello, dad. Yes, I am here. Do you hear me well?”  
  
“I... I think I do now. How are you, _Vi_? How are things at school?”  
  
“Everything’s fine. I have math for the next two hours, then I’ll have _Pell_ drive me back to the hotel”.  
  
“Sweetie, about that…”  
  
“About what? The men you are paying to follow me around? How long?”  
  
“That’s hardly important. Those men are there only to ensure you are protected at all times. They’re instructed not to meddle in your personal affairs and to be as invisible as they can, but I’m afraid last night's circumstances fall under what they’ve been told to be an emergency _…_ ”  
  
“Or you could have just told me. How long, dad? One month, six? A year?”  
  
“…They’ve been there since the first time you left for the New World, Vivi. You’re the only daughter of a much contested king and you’re studying in a far abroad country with no extradition. I wanted you to have as much of a normal experience as you could and I hoped you would enjoy New Marineford as much as I loved the Institute, but Crocodile showing up in Grand Line City is not something I’m willing to ignore”.  
  
“They’ve been here all along? Why didn’t you tell me? … I really don’t understand”.  
  
“Just focus on your studies, dear. As long as you let those men do their jobs, there’s no reason for you to worry about any of this. Just maybe go somewhere else next time, okay? I’ll deal with the rest. I have to meet with the High Council in one hour, so I’ll be leaving now…”  
  
“Wait, dad!”  
  
“…Take care, _Vi_ ”. 

* * *

A little before four p.m., right after two devastating hours of “Introduction to Calculus”, just outside the main entrance the Straw-Hats find their two missing components, who in their casual clothes are both looking much better than the last time their friends have seen them, especially Zoro.  
  
“We wanted to know how you guys were all holding up”, Nami shrugs. “Did the teachers say something?”  
  
“You should be in the clear”, Chopper supplies, thoughtfully. “Kizaru made a comment about committing to our studies, but he does that in every class, and it’s not like he referenced either of you directly”.  
  
Zoro snickers. “I think I’m allowed to be sick sometimes, even Borsalino knows that”.  
  
“Well, _marimo_ , you’ve been making _me_ sick every day for years”.  
  
“Guys, I beg you”, Nami draws a sharp breath. “I don’t want to deal with another headache”.  
  
“Take it out on _curly-brow_ ”, the green-haired swordsman remarks. “It’s not my fault he’s so loud”.  
  
“Do you think you’re any better, _moss-head_?”   
  
“Sanji-kun, my headache”.  
  
The Vinsmoke prince lets the proverbial bone go at that, now turning his attention to the orange-haired girl, thinking of how much he has missed his sweet Nami-s _w_ an today at school.  
  
She’s always a sight for sore eyes.  
  
“Thank you. Now, what about going somewhere more private so that Vivi here can finally tell us what the hell happened to her last night?”  
  
They settle for a café not too far from New Marineford, from which they can later reach their vehicles fast.  
  
There aren’t many costumers inside, so they’re able to find a table that grants them some degree of privacy. It’s still better if they don’t shout, but at least they won’t have to watch their backs obsessively.  
  
“We’ll have three smoothies, two cups of coffee, a cola, three batches of pancakes, one slice of cinnamon cake… No, let’s make it two. _Oh_ , and one iced-tea as well, _please_ … Thank you very much”.  
  
Nami smiles faintly at the retreating waitress, a tall, red-headed girl who looks vaguely familiar. She can’t quite tell where or when they have met before, but she’s sure they did, so she patiently waits for her to be out of earshot before speaking again.  
  
 _Better safe than sorry_.   
  
“ _So_ , what happened last night, Vivi?”  
  
It doesn’t exactly take a genius to put two and two together and figure out that something occurred at the Phoenix’s Nest which scared the living _shit_ out of the blue-haired princess, something that has somehow to do with Robin.

All the clues point in the same direction: that _fucking_ Crocodile dude.   
  
“Nothing happened, per se. But on my way to the bathroom I heard a familiar voice coming from one of the VIP tables and that, summed up with _what_ that person was saying, confirmed that it was indeed Crocodile the one sitting there, _bitching_ about the poor conclusion of his plan to kidnap me”.  
  
One thing is to have a suspect, another is for that suspicion to be asserted as the truth.  
  
Nami doesn’t like where this is going. She knows how much trauma he has caused to her friend.  
  
“Aren’t people looking for him, though?”, asks Zoro. “Since he tried to kidnap a princess and everything”.  
  
“Technically, yes. But Alabasta has no authority in the New World, so justice here won’t bother him unless a crime is committed. I really want to hope _that’_ s the reason he’s here…”  
  
“Did he see you, Vivi-ch _w_ an? Does he know you live in Grand Line City?”  
  
“I’m not sure, to be honest with you. The press only knows that I study in another country, but Crocodile’s family is famous for their network of spies, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if they managed to sneak one or two inside the palace”, the princess replies. “What I know for a fact is that he was talking about Robin and not in the nicest of terms. Since she’s technically the reason his plan failed and the whole clan was disgraced, I thought I would give her a heads up, that’s why I wanted to talk to her this morning. I think we’ve already gathered enough proof of his craziness. It’s the same man who tried to kidnap me last year, after all”.  
  
“I thank you for the warning, Vivi, but I don’t think he knows that I moved here. We should keep our ears open, though. If he has moved to Grand Line City, then sooner or later people _will_ start talking about him”.  
  
“I’m sure Ace won’t mind asking Marco if he has more information about this Croco-guy”, Luffy interjects. “Until then, maybe we should hang out somewhere that’s not the Nest”.  
  
“ _Aye_ , captain”, concludes Sanji. “He won’t get another chance to hurt our friends”. 

* * *

> **22:03** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _Hey… about Saturday._   
>   
> **22:05** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Yeah? What about it?_   
>   
> **22:05** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _3 p.m. at your house?_   
>   
> **22:09** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Works for me_. _  
> I suppose I won’t be training tomorrow, then._   
>   
> **22:11** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _Don’t you dare._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, things are finally starting to move, plot-wise. I'm ten chapters ahead of you and I am still not quite sure what I am going to do with Crocodile, but be assured that, unfortunately, this won't be the last you (or Vivi and Robin) heard of him.  
> Some ZoroBin fluff in this chapter because _why not_ and please, please do not hate me when there won't be interactions between them in the next one. Your wait will be rewarded in the end, I promise.  
> Eleven is my favorite number so, yup, stay tuned for the corresponding chapter. 💘
> 
> Please, do let me know what you think of this story/update, and thank you so, so much to everyone who read, left kudos or a comment.  
> This fanfiction started as a small, light-hearted thing I was writing to cheer myself up, but I'm growing immensely fond of these characters and the way I re-wrote them into this modern AU. You have no idea how happy I am about the positive response it's receiving so far.  
> You guys are the best! 🥰


	9. The Neverending Sigh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Sanji poses as the knight-in-shining-armor he wishes to become, Sabo fucks things up spectacularly with his girlfriend and Robin receives a not so nice surprise when her legal tutor takes her to the Baratie for dinner.

**LATER THAT WEEK**.

It’s been raining for hours – the sky is a grey, uniform cloak, a crying child whose screams have the sound of thunder and the wind it breathes ruffles Nami’s hair, seeping in cold waves beneath her jacket from the waist and sleeves. The weather is, overall, making her miserable today.  
  
Her umbrella lies forgotten in one of the outer pockets of her backpack, with its shaft bent in two and the canopy folded on itself where it’s not supposed to.  
  
The trench-coat she’s wearing doesn’t have a hood, so she’s forced to walk under the rain, and the orange, water-dripping strands stick unpleasantly to her forehead, falling in front of her eyes and making it difficult, from time to time, to see where she’s going.  
  
Her car’s been acting weird lately, so it’s with the mechanic for a check-up, but Nami knows it’s her fault if she’s having to deal with such unnecessary discomfort.  
  
She should have accepted Zoro’s offer to drive her home after school, but she didn’t. Seeing Viola getting inside of Sanji’s car and the two laughing at something he said, it brought to life a certain green monster in her chest, so she has refused.  
  
Sure, it wasn’t raining then, and Zoro would have probably questioned her strange behavior, making the whole experience even worse than the current storm, but she has avoided catching a cold just this week and missed a day of class already, how is _this_ not supposed to take a toll on her health?  
  
By foot, it’s a thirty minutes walk between New Marineford and her house.  
  
She has been hiking for almost twenty already, half of which under the pouring water, but on one thing she was right: it’s cooling her down and making her see things from a different perspective, humbling her even.  
  
She can’t keep her feelings to herself and then expect Sanji not to stomp all over them, can she?  
  
While Nami is still pretty sure that the two of them would never work, and the blond has reiterated many times how Viola is supposedly only a friend of his whom he’s helping with some stuff, it still hurts to watch them interact, to notice the way the other girl smiles at him, finding every little excuse to touch him.  
  
Sanji may be adamant he’s not interested in her in that sense, but she remembers how he acted when they dated last year.  
  
His attempts at courting the Dressrosa princess were very much real, at first.  
  
He has never told her why they didn’t work out and, to be honest, she never asked, but it’s clear that Viola wouldn’t mind trying again. After all, the two of them are perfect on paper.  
  
They are the offspring of kings and queens, they have been raised with similar mindsets and mannerisms.  
  
She’s very beautiful, with curly, ebony hair that cascade down her back and equally dark eyes, framed by long, thick lashes.  
  
She has been the female lead in pretty much every show the drama club has staged since their first years, and from what Usopp and Franky, who are in the same class as her, have said in the past, it seems she’s also very intelligent, and has some of the best overall marks in the entire school.  
  
If this was a competition – which it _isn’t_ , because she’s not playing – Nami is not sure she would win.  
  
She’s confident about who she is, the things she can do and the way she looks, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been scarred by her previous, disastrous relationship with Eustass.  
  
With that as the only romantic experience she has ever had, it’s not that surprising that she’s not eager to try again anytime soon.  
  
The road is empty, so she starts humming one of her favorite songs to keep herself company. Of course, the day she walks for half a hour on her own it’s also the day she forgets to bring her earphones to school.  
  
Nami pretends not to notice the car that slows down next to her, accelerating her step and refusing to look back at it.  
  
She has seen this scenario in one too many crime tv-shows, after all.  
  
This is how the girl ends up dead at the beginning of the episode.  
  
Just like those shows, the window lazily comes down as the driver pulls up a little ahead of her.  
  
She hums her song a little louder.  
  
“Do you need a ride, Nami-s _w_ an?”

* * *

Sanji quietly switches gear, lowers the volume of the radio and slightly tilts his head around to glance at her.  
  
It’s only a brief second, because his eyes are needed on the road, but it’s more than enough to send a chill down his spine.  
  
Nami looks… well, awful, and by this he doesn’t mean that she’s not pretty, because she is always magnificent, only that she’s coming out of the rainstorm like it was a boxing match.  
  
It’s precisely the reason why, after it started raining, he has dropped Viola home as fast as he could and pushed the limits of his engine to get to the opposite side of town and rescue his friend, but only after insulting the _moss-head_ via text for not getting her home, of course.  
  
He can’t believe that _caveman_ would let a lady fend off for herself under the rain…  
  
“How did you know where to find me?”  
  
Nami's voice feels a little distant, but he pins it on the obvious discomfort she must be feeling.  
  
Water drips from the girl onto the leather seat, leaving a halo, but he doesn’t care. He can wash it.  
  
“I was still in the parking lot when the others got into their cars and disappeared. When I didn’t see you there, I figured you were going home by yourself”, he explains, detailing his reasoning. “Viola asked me if we could give her niece a ride, too, so we were waiting there for Rebecca to come out”.  
  
Focused on his driving, Sanji doesn’t see her frown, and continues.  
  
“When it started raining, I got them home and drove my way back to New Marineford. Since this is the quickest street, I figured you’d be around here. Forgive me if I overstepped, I just didn’t want you to get sick”.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_ ”. Nami connects her phone to his radio, selecting a song from her personal library. “Thank you, Sanji-kun. I would have accepted Zoro’s ride if I knew it was about to rain, or asked one of the others”.   
  
Ok, so _maybe_ he should delete the five texts and three vocal messages he has sent to the idiot.  
  
“Glad to be of service”. He stops at the red light, one street away from her house. He can finally turn his head around and return her stare. “How are you feeling?”  
  
Nami’s nose is red and watery, her hazelnut eyes injected with blood. She’s very pale, with the green- _ish_ undertone that’s distinctive of people who are unwell, her voice one note lower than usual, a bit rustier.  
  
If he doesn’t act soon, it’s very likely she’ll spend the whole weekend fighting her cold.  
  
“I’ve felt better”, she chuckles, but her laugh his cut off by a fit of cough. “Don’t worry for me. I’ll heat up some of the soup you brought me the other day and go straight to bed. Tomorrow I’ll be as good as-”.  
  
Sanji would love nothing more than to believe her statement, but the orange-haired girl doesn’t even get to finish it before she starts coughing again.  
  
The light becomes green, so they move again.  
  
“I can buy some groceries while you dry yourself up”, he offers. “I can make you more soup and something else to eat over the weekend, just in case you’ve caught something”.  
  
He knows she would otherwise just order take-away for three days straight. When Nojiko is out of town, which happens a lot, her sister tends to behave a little unhealthily when it comes to her eating schedule.  
  
“You’re worrying”, Nami smirks. “But _fine_. I feel like a train ran over me. It’s like my… bones are heavier”.  
  
Now that he thinks about it, her eyes have a strange sheen to them.  
  
“ _Yup_. I think you’ve got the flu”.  
  
“ _Ugh_. Just what I needed”, she rolls her eyes. “…Sanji-kun, my house was that one”.  
  
“ _Eh_?”, the blond hits the brakes. “ _Oh_ , you’re right”.  
  
In reverse gear, Sanji brings the car back in front of the villa.  
  
They have finally arrived.

* * *

> 16:07 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _ace, can I drop by later?  
>  there’s something I need to talk to you about._   
>   
> 16:23 - @ **firefist**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _…you don’t need money, do you?_   
>   
> 16:24 - @ **chief-of-staff**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _^.  
>  It wouldn’t be the first time._   
>   
> 16:26 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _I don’t need money_   
> _but thank you for the trust, guys_  
>   
>  16:29 - @ **chief-of-staff**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _JS. Grandpa told me he cut off your allowance again_.   
> _What have you done this time_?   
>   
> 16:31 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _I think it was because I accidentally took his credit card with me to the meat expo instead of mine…  
>  it’s not like I even spent that much money, anyway.  
> the old guy is just overreacting as usual. _   
>   
> 16:34 - @ **firefist**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _LOL_   
> _ok, I will help you_   
> _come by at anytime_   
>   
> 16:36 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _thx, ace. you are the best_   
>   
> 16:37 - @ **chief-of-staff**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _Hey!!!_

* * *

Koala smiles appreciatively at the fuming cup of tea sitting in her hands, grateful for the warmth after her little jog under the rain.  
  
 _He_ has crossed every possible line this time.  
  
While she understands he has just recently broken up with his girlfriend and wants to keep things between them under wraps, she shouldn’t get kicked out of his apartment the moment his brother decides to return home, not when there’s a goddamn thunderstorm raging outside and she was just about to quietly fall asleep in post-orgasm bliss.  
  
This was cruel, cruel and unnecessary.  
  
It’s starting to look as if his privacy has nothing to do with it and his issue lies more in being ashamed of her or something along that line.  
  
If that is the case, and _yes_ , she _will_ confront him about it, she’d rather discover it now and put a stop to things before they get too deep – or it hurts too much.  
  
“Can I ask what you were doing out there?”  
  
Koala looks up at her dark-haired acquaintance, the girl she has met so many times in the small library nearby during the summer.

Robin is younger than her and much quieter, but she has a great taste for books and the two have completely different social circles, the former is in high school whilst she in university, so while the world is a small place, it’s unlikely the decision will come back to haunt her, that is if she decides to open up and lift some of this ugly weight off her chest.   
  
“I was having a date, then suddenly I wasn’t”, she shares, cozying up to the blue sweater she’s borrowing. Her clothes were completely soaked when they got to the apartment, but, luckily, she and Robin have roughly the same size, so whilst the pants are a little too long for her, the other garments wear perfectly fine.  
  
“Let’s just say I’m seeing someone, okay? That someone asked me to keep it quiet for a little, because he has just been through a tough breakup and his ex is part of our group of friends, but today it just got plain ridiculous”, Koala pauses, catching her breath.  
  
The more she revisits what happened earlier, the angrier she gets.  
  
“We were hanging out at his place when his brother texted that he was coming back home, so he gave me my clothes and some half-assed apology about a _family meeting_ , but _I know_ , I know he just doesn’t want his brother to know about us. Can’t he just ask him to keep the secret, too, if he cares so much about it?”  
  
The brunette taps a finger on her chin. “I assume this brother of his is part of that same group. _With the ex_ ”.  
  
“Yes, he is, but… Did I mention she’s already dating someone else?”  
  
“ _Oh, boy_ ”.

* * *

Robin doesn’t know why lately everyone seems to be mistaking her for a romance expert, but this situation seems a little more straightforward than that of Nami’s “ _friend_ ”, and who knows, maybe she’s slowly starting to get it. She can tell Koala is upset, and rightfully so, for the poor treatment she has received.  
  
All the clues in her story, after all, point to the same ugly conclusion.  
  
It’s not the _ex_ who didn’t move on.  
  
“I really don’t know what to say…”, she trails off. “How is he when it’s just the two of you?”  
  
Koala is quick to reply, as if she has been waiting for this moment since the beginning of their conversation.  
  
“An entirely different person”, she declares, confidently. “It’s like he’s one person when we are alone, and another when other people are involved. The latter, I really don’t like. C’mon, I’m almost twenty-two! I don’t have time for kindergarten bullshit, it doesn’t matter how _pretty_ he is… _Ah_ , thank you, Robin-chan _…_ ”  
  
The younger girl blinks at her, unsure of what prompted the sudden change.  
  
She has barely spoken a few words, just a simple question, but she’s glad to see that Koala’s shoulders are losing some of their slump.  
  
“Now I know what I need to do…”, she resumes. “I don’t want to be the skeleton in someone’s closet”.   
  
Robin encourages her with a tight smile. “ _Of course_ ”.  
  
She doubts she’ll get any more details on the topic, but this sounds to her like an appropriate course of action: she can’t imagine how the blonde must have felt, drifting alone under the rain, so easily set aside by someone that should supposedly care about her. She'd feel mortified as well.  
  
“I’ll give him the possibility to explain himself, but I’m sick and tired of his excuses. Either he tells me the truth and it makes _sense_ , or else I’ll act accordingly. Like I said, I really don’t have the time…”  
  
It’s a bit more clear now that what Koala has been seeking on all along was not her advice, but rather somebody she could vent to, someone that’s possibly outside of her usual circle, someone that’s external to the facts.  
  
Robin considers the idea of trying for herself. She likes to think of what they have created here, in the privacy of her living area, as a _safe space_ , so she should be able to pour out her feelings as well, right?  
  
She feels quite nervous about going to Zoro’s house tomorrow.  
  
Technically he’ll just show her what his whole swordsman thing is about, something which she’s very intrigued about, and his sister will be there as well, but she can’t stop her heart from racing whenever she thinks about it, and now that it’s less than twenty-four hours before their scheduled meeting, the prospect of a stroke becomes more and more realistic.  
  
Whilst excited – she enjoys what little time they spend together one on one; she could talk to him for literal hours without getting bored – she’s also very frightened: too many things could turn awful all at once.  
  
Robin is very smart, perhaps a little too much for her own good.  
  
She’s aware of this… brewing attraction she’s harboring for her classmate, and it’s the embarrassing.  
  
Sure, she has managed to keep it private thus far, but Nami has been getting a lot more insistent with her questions as of lately, and she knows it won’t be too long before Vivi and Kaya catch on.  
  
She doesn’t want to think of what would happen if the whole group finds out about it.  
  
“…God, I love this sweater…”  
  
“…Where did you buy it?”  
  
“Robin?”, Koala calls a little louder. “Are you listening to me?”   
  
“… _Oh_ , the sweater? I bought it in Alabasta, I think”.

* * *

“What’s bothering you?”  
  
She’s great at reading other people’s faces, she sees right through the stages of shame and chagrin, into the eyes of doubt and misdirection.  
  
Robin wasn’t listening to her, and that is a fact. She has stared at the same spot on the ground for a full minute, barely blinking, fixated on who knows what kind of thoughts.  
  
While she’s never the walking embodiment of happiness, Koala has never seen her quite so down before.  
  
“Am I really that obvious?”, she takes a long sip from her cup, behind which she hides a mysterious smile.  
  
“ _Yup_ ”, Koala snorts. “Just spill it. I promise I won’t tell another soul”.  
  
She sits quietly through her brief resume, and by the end of it she understands why the other would feel quite so torn about tomorrow.  
  
Robin admits she may like one of her new friends more than the rest and that, while excited for the opportunity to know him a little better, she doesn’t want to encourage the feeling.  
  
It’s her senior year and she’s studying at a new school whose workload is demanding, not to mention she still hasn’t recovered completely from last year, she’s still paying the consequences of her recklessness, the emotional rollercoaster just the idea of pining for someone would warrant would surely mess up her already precarious mental health.  
  
She’s the new girl here and she doesn’t want to find herself caught up in any drama, although one can argue that the Straw-Hats are a _horrible_ choice of associates in that sense.  
  
She has enough on her plate as it is, she’s still adjusting to her life in Grand Line City; while she knows how to deal with the lack of friends thanks to her time at the Institute, she’d rather not go through it again.  
  
Robin’s ultimate fear is to be alone once more if things get awkward between herself and this boy, something which, _sadly_ , Koala has seen happening a multitude of times back in her day. She understands her concerns.  
  
There’s then the final matter of not knowing _if_ he likes her back.  
  
It seems, verbatim, that he’s _less repulsed by her than he is by most people_ – not exactly the greatest of signs, but Koala finds it very hard to believe that she could be turned down. She always seems so… perfect. Fancy to know that even poised people have anxiety, or emotional baggage.   
  
“Just enjoy your afternoon”, she ends up telling her. “Like you said, you’re just getting to know each other. He seems to like your company, but it doesn’t have to go any further than that, if it’s not what you want”.  
  
“You’re right, I will keep that in mind”.

* * *

> 19:00 - @ **firefist**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _You did right by coming to me, Luffy. I’ll call Marco._  
>   
>  19:02 - @ **chief-of-staff**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _Be careful._   
> _That guy may be an idiot, but he acts like a terrorist._   
> _Trying to kidnap your friend? That’s fucked up_.   
>   
> 19:05 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _you know I’ll always protect my friends_   
> _let me know what Marco says_   
>   
> 19:12 - @ **thepirateking**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _I also need a couple hundred belies to go to the movies with Usopp…_   
>   
> 19:13 - @ **firefist**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _...aaaaand?_   
> _I’m not giving you any._   
>   
> 19:17 - @ **chief-of-staff**  
>  in “ ** _Bad Bois_** ”:  
>  _Luffy._   
> _What happened to the money in my wallet?_

* * *

Sanji deals professionally with the four pans he’s currently supervising, four separate dishes that are supposed to give Nami a somewhat balanced diet over the rest of the weekend.  
  
He still needs to start working on tonight’s menu, but that’s something he’ll figure out later.  
  
When he came back she was already out of the shower, with dry hair and sporting thick pajama pants, sprawled comfortably on the white sofa as she watches some tv.  
  
Nami is still there now, laughing along the faint voices coming from the device, and he smiles instinctively. _That_ is the best sound in the world.   
  
“Are you done, Sanji-kun?”, she shouts from the other room sometime later, when he’s placing the different dishes inside of their respective containers.  
  
In a strange twist of irony, he’s lucky that she always forgets to return _his_ whenever he cooks for her, because those are the only ones he could find.  
  
“Almost there”, he shouts back. “I’ll get started on dinner in a minute”.   
  
She struts her way to the kitchen, a giant, winking panda sitting on the front of her hoodie, and leans on the door, from where she looks pensively at her friend, and then gestures for him to join her.  
  
“Come watch the movie with me. We can cook dinner later”.  
  
Sanji would like to argue that perfection is also a matter of _time_ , but she seems as if she really wants him to join her on the sofa, so his feet move before he can even register her request.  
  
He doesn’t think there’s a scenario in which he could deny it.  
  
Sanji makes sure her future meals are properly stored in the refrigerator, puts the dirty tools in the sink and finally follows her to the living room, where he finds her wrapped in a huge blanket.  
  
There’s a little more color in her skin now, which he’s grateful for, but her eyes are still very watery and she has been sneezing nonstop ever since she got out of his car.  
  
Sitting next to her on the sofa, when Nami offers to share the blanket with him and hands him one of the edges, he can tell that the warmth she’s emitting is not normal. If she doesn’t have a fever, Vinsmoke Sanji is a _fucking_ duck.  
  
“What are we watching?”  
  
“I have no idea”, she shakes her head. “Something made by _SMILE Entertainment_ , so it’s probably garbage”.

* * *

Something is snuggling on his right side, he can tell by the weight.  
  
 _Someone_ , more accurately, as his numb senses suggest – he’s enveloped in a strange warmth, something too pleasant to be the product of human technology.  
  
Heating systems don’t smell of tangerine shampoo.  
  
He snaps out of his slumber all at once, carefully prying one eye open.  
  
He doesn’t _dare_ moving a muscle.   
  
Nami is resting her head on his right shoulder, her long, orange hair sprawled on his chest.  
  
Her hand keeps a tight hold of his left hip as she hugs the blond with one arm, profoundly asleep.  
  
Now, Sanji has hugged her before, multiple times – each a glorious experience which he treasures.  
  
 _This_ , however, feels completely new: she has always been very vocal about her personal boundaries, and he always respected them; while their friendship can be described as “affectionate”, he can’t recall a single instance in which she has fallen asleep so close to him, or touched him as she is doing now.  
  
Were she someone his heart doesn’t beat for, then maybe he wouldn’t be making such a big deal out of his current predicament. His body may be still, but his mind is raging.  
  
He's not stupid, he knows it’s all in his mind… but whilst sleeping it looks a little bit as if she feels about him the same way he does about her, as if it isn’t just him that’s crazy about her, _so how in hell is he supposed to keep his wits about him and play it cool_?  
  
The blond doesn’t really care that this is all an illusion and the magic will end as soon as she wakes up.  
  
Sadly, Sanji realizes that she’ll stir up and be gone the moment he returns the hug, but he doesn’t mind too much. He still got more than he could have ever hoped for.  
  
With a sigh, he brings his right arm around her shoulders and squeezes very lightly one, two times, immediately causing Nami to open her eyes and become aware of their current position.  
  
Her cheeks are red, but he can’t tell if she’s embarrassed. She looks just as feverish as she did before they both fell asleep.  
  
 _Holy shit_ , he thinks, _what time is it_? He promised he would make dinner.  
  
“My sister complained about it a lot when I was little”, Nami apologizes, immediately releasing her grip on him and putting one sofa cushion of distance between them. “She says I tend to use people as my plushies when I’m sick. I’m sorry, Sanji-kun”.  
  
In his modest opinion, Nojiko has no taste. How can one refuse this _angel_ ’s fondness is beyond him.  
  
It all feels evry cold now.

  
“You have nothing to apologize for”.

* * *

Robin feels better after her little chat with Koala.  
  
She has left _hours_ ago, but her words are still resonating positively with her, so that after days of struggle, she’s finally getting a hold on her emotions again, and able to focus on the other things that need her attention.  
  
In little over an hour she manages to complete the essay on magnetic fields which Sakazuki has requested for Monday and when that is done, once she has triple-checked her bibliography, the dark-haired girl opens up a new tab on her browser, eager to find some new information about the school’s tournament.  
  
As the new girl, she has missed on four years of New Marineford’s _lore_.  
  
Since she knows that she won’t be as resourceful as Luffy seems to think, the least Robin can do is to be as well informed about the competition as she can.  
  
For over a week now, she has been surfing the web to learn about the school and the tournament’s history.  
  
Luckily, for the last twenty years the event has been taped and uploaded online, but while she’s enjoying herself tremendously by watching the past contests, the experience is only increasing her belief that she won’t be of much use to the team who has welcomed her so warmly.  
  
Most of the tasks look pretty physical and Robin, _well_ , she’s not an athlete.  
  
While she can deal with Sentomaru’s classes, it’s been years she has done something even remotely sport-related outside of school.  
  
The only discipline she has practiced agonistically, back in Ohara, is swimming.  
  
That skill, unfortunately, is now out of the table. How she loves the _irony_.  
  
She’s still paying the consequences that dragging Chopper out of the pool have triggered, although she doesn’t regret it. Truth is, there’s no way she would have shared so many personal information with a near stranger – after today, however, maybe she should start thinking of Koala as a _friend_ – if she wasn’t already so worked up about everything else going on in her life right now.  
  
Meeting Zoro tomorrow for swords is just the tip of the iceberg. She’s anxious for so many things all at once, it’s a natural reflex to focus so much on the one that’s the most pleasant to think about.  
  
Currently, she can’t stand more than ten minutes in the shower or she’ll feel as if she’s drowning, which is not only having a terrible impact on her mood, but also disparaging her haircare routine. As time progresses, New Marineford is proving to be more challenging than the Institute in terms of workload – some of her teachers are also giving her special assignments meant to ensure she is on pair with the rest of class in their subjects, so while Robin is somewhat of a prodigy student, she could do with a little more free time.  
  
In the two hours she has before going out for dinner – Saul always brings her to the fanciest restaurants when he needs to deliver bad news, so the fact she’s finally trying the _Baratie_ tonight, after weeks of hearing about it from Sanji, has her a little on edge – Robin sits through a match from four years ago, precisely the final.  
  
She’s surprised when a younger Ace appears on the screen, even though the tournament it’s pretty much the only thing Luffy’s brothers have talked about when she met them, but from the very beginning she finds herself rooting for the Whitebeards, especially when their competition is introduced.  
  
The only other person she recognizes is Marco, but she hates the then captain of CP9 on first sight.  
  
There’s something about the way he laughs that really, really gets under her skin.  
  
Halfway through the treasure hunt, as both teams are being decimated by the obstacles laid out in the field, Robin is taking notes on a small notebook, writing down some of the things that happen, like the feats performed by the players, or how lenient the jury is towards certain infractions.  
  
Speaking of the jury, one team surely seems to be favored, and it’s _not_ the Whitebeards.  
  
When one of the contestants picks up a sword and cuts a way for himself and his teammates through some obstacles, her thoughts are instantly driven back to Zoro. Inwardly, she toys with the idea of similar feats taking place this year, when suddenly she’s reminded of Sabo’s words.  
  
It seems the New World produces quite more swordsmen than one would expect, making the tournament a little more dangerous for _commoners_ like her, but Sabo also said that injures are strictly off the table, warranting the expulsion of the offender, so maybe she shouldn’t worry about it too much, just ask the others exactly how often tasks turn into physical fights between opposing factions.  
  
From what she’s experiencing from previous installments of the school's race, that happens an awful lot.

* * *

Saul picks her up around eight p.m., a little earlier than they have agreed upon. The car ride to the restaurant is quiet, and the man doesn’t give her any clue as to what’s the occasion behind tonight’s dinner.  
  
The last time he brought her to a place like this, however, it was to tell her that she would need to uproot her life and move to the New World, enroll in a new school for her senior year and give up on whatever resemblance of normality she struggled so much to build in Alabasta.  
  
While she doesn’t miss the desert, or the Institute, Robin is literally shaking as the two enter the Baratie.  
  
Undoubtedly, coming to Grand Line City has improved her quality of life, she’d be a fool not to recognize it.  
  
Her therapist says she has made some great progress over the past couple of months, sure, but the road is still long and impervious, and any abrupt change now would be a recipe for disaster. It doesn’t take a psychology degree to figure out _that_.  
  
What could be so urgent and prompt such formality, though, she wonders. She hasn’t gotten into any trouble later and her grades are somewhat promising. She hasn’t even told him about the pool accident, because she knows Saul would make a bigger deal out of it than necessary – she _is_ coping, albeit tentatively.  
  
 _Honestly_ , she can’t think of a single reason that rationally justifies tonight’s meeting.  
  
As Nico Olvia’s best friend, Saul is the only adult who has taken care of her when she died, so she shouldn’t be too shocked if he wants to spend some time together and check on her.  
  
But normally he would just stop by her apartment and have tea with her, or take her to the theatre – when he’s so proper, usually, it’s because he is acting primarily on his role as her legal tutor… _the fancier the dish_ , _the worse the news_.  
  
The Baratie, unfortunately, seems like the kind of place where even critics struggle to point out a flaw.  
  
“If you would please leave your coats with Caimie…”, the host smiles, pointing a finger at the green-haired girl waiting by the wardrobe. “…I’ll show you to your table straight away. Your friend’s already here, _sir_ ”.  
  
 _Uh-oh_. This sounds very, very bad. There’s only one person who has participated to one of these dinners in the past, just once, and she really doesn’t want to see _him_ tonight.  
  
It's bad enough she has to sit through his lectures four hours every week and pretend she’s not affected by the proximity of her father-figure-turned-to-stranger-turned-to-math-professor, but Kuzan Aokiji, the man whom she has once thought would replace the one who birthed her and disappeared, is indeed the other customer sitting at their table when the host eventually leads them to it.  
  
He and Saul shakes hands, although a bit stiffly. When he turns around to greet her, too, the girl just stares blankly at him and immediately steps away the moment he tries to extend a finger in her direction.  
  
She hopes he wasn’t expecting a hug, because that would be insane.  
  
“What is _he_ doing here?”

* * *

“…According to the police, the robbers took no valuables. They didn’t touch the jewelry or the antiques. The only damage was a broken window, but I’ve given dispositions to fix that already. That said, I’ll be on the first plane for Ohara tomorrow. However, these robbers… They broke into the safe in _Olvia_ ’s studio”.  
  
Robin’s mind is instantly flooded with images of her old home, each room and hallway a painful reminder of some of the most precious memories she has – she has refused to return there after her mother’s funeral, leaving all decisions pertaining the estate to Saul.  
  
She always thought one day she would be older and wiser and finally decide what to do with the mansion, the winery, the royalties from her mother's history books… but _no_ , once again things won’t evolve as she has planned and she’ll be forced to face her fears before she’s ready.  
  
It feels like jumping into Basil's pool a second time.  
  
“Her safe?”, she repeats, numbly. “I don’t understand”.  
  
She really doesn’t.  
  
The only thing Nico Olvia kept there was her research.  
  
Who robs an archaeologist? _For their paperwork_? It doesn’t make even a shred of sense.  
  
“She never told me what she kept in there”, Saul smiles sadly at her. “I was only supposed to give you the key on your twentieth birthday, but I guess there’s no point in waiting now… She, I mean Olvia…”  
  
Robin sympathizes when his voice breaks. She’s not even sure how she’s holding it together herself, but Kuzan’s eyes on her are an excellent deterrent. She has promised a long time ago that she wouldn’t show weakness in his presence again – she may have broken that promise _once_ , but there won’t be a repeat.  
  
“She also wrote you a card”, he hands her a small, white envelope which she accepts with quivering fingers. “I thought you might want to have it now. The safe was empty when the police arrived, so unless they find those responsible, I’m afraid we won’t be able to recover what they stole”.  
  
The brunette eyes the paper in her hands, her name written in gracious characters on the front.  
  
Olvia’s handwriting stares back at her, breaking down her defenses one by one.  
  
Robin secures the letter inside her purse, knowing she’ll spend the rest of the night crying over it, and whips her head around to glare at the man sitting on her left.  
  
She lifts up her glass, taking a generous sip of wine, _daring_ them with her blue eyes to utter a word about it – obviously, they’re afraid she’ll _relapse_ , and the lack of trust hurts her more than she cares to admit, although she supposes she deserves it.  
  
She knows she should stay away from… _substances_ , but no one would want to be sober in her place.  
  
“I'm still waiting for you to tell me why exactly we are having dinner with one of my _teachers_ , Saul”.

* * *

He has been expecting hurtful words, plenty of them, but what he really wasn’t prepared for is the hate in the young woman’s eyes. Robin looks at him as if he’s the lowest _scum_ who ever walked the earth and, truth is, as she pierces him down with her stare, he feels every bit like it.  
  
Kuzan has many regrets and the biggest one is sitting right next to him; whilst he knows he has lost his chance to be part of her life a long time ago, that doesn’t mean he didn’t always act with her best interest at heart, or that he still won’t protect her if the situation requires it, whether she likes it or not.  
  
“Olvia gave me a copy of the key, back then”, he interjects. “I needed someplace safe to store some… valuables. My point is, I know what she kept in there”.  
  
There’s a sudden peak in Saul’s interest, but the same cannot be said for the girl. He thought she would be surprised, perhaps even a little happy about him solving the mystery, but she just looks blankly at him, an emotionless statue of salt. She doesn’t remind him of the little girl who liked to ride on his shoulders.  
  
“Isn’t that great, Robin _-_ chan?”  
  
“There was only her research in there”, she declares. “I’m not sure why someone would steal _that_ of all things, but if anyone will figure it out, that’ll be the police”.  
  
She doesn’t even _try_ to sound like she believes it, but no one can really blame her for that. The way authorities handled Olvia’s death is still a sore spot for all three of them.  
  
They never caught the man who pushed her off the road and drove away, after all.   
  
Saul smiles grimly. “I’m sure they’ll do the best they can”.  
  
“It was mostly her notes…”, Kuzan continues. “Things she didn’t include in her books. A great loss, _of course_ , but not something, technically speaking, which Robin would have an emotional connection to”.  
  
“…And what would _you_ know of emotional connections?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick update because I woke up to Niina's comment this morning on the latest chapter and I thought "well, the new one has been already edited, so why not?", so here it is. I'm also very impatient for you guys to read the next three, since it's one of my favorite parts of this story so far. I have half a mind to rush updates so we get to the Christmas/New Year's chapters around Christmas, but I'm currently writing chapter 21st and it's barely Halloween, so I'm not sure how that will work out. 
> 
> Nonetheless, I hope this update found you well! 🥰💖 
> 
> p.s. What do you guys think? Is Kuzan just a dick or a dick with good motives? I'd love to hear your thoughts on him!


	10. Trampoline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Zoro and Robin meet up as planned and Perona laughs at her brother's expense, Eustass loses yet another occasion to be a decent human being and Luffy and Law end up in detention together.

**12 HOURS LATER.**

A lavish breakfast and a good night of sleep _do not_ make things any easier to bear. Dinner, of course, has been a disaster.  
  
They left before their food even arrived, or rather, _she_ stormed out of the restaurant and forced Saul to run after her, leaving the math professor behind.  
  
What were those two thinking, _anyway_ , that Kuzan could just show up and she would pretend he never left?  
  
One should have never thought inviting him was a good idea, the other should have just said no.  
  
It was his choice to go back to the New World and leave her alone when her mother died.  
  
While she knows he is not her father, he always acted quite like it back when Robin was a child.  
  
No matter how hard she tries, it’s very hard to treat him like a stranger now that she’s forced to interact with him every week at school. _He is not_.  
  
This is the same man who taught her stupid things like riding a bike and then disappeared into thin air the moment Olvia’s casket was dropped in its hole in the cemetery.  
  
How dare he jump back into her life now, after years of silence.  
  
 _Something’s_ _off_.  
  
There’s more to the documents that were stolen than he has let on.  
  
First and foremost, the robbery itself doesn’t make sense. Saul just e-mailed her a copy of the estate’s inventory, and the safe really is the only thing that has been touched – _weird_. What kind of thief leaves behind the gold, the jewelry, the antiques?  
  
Then there’s the way Kuzan talked about the safe. The more she’s told she shouldn’t think too much about it, the more she forces herself to go through some of her oldest memories. She used to spend a lot of time in Olvia’s studio, she was always curious to crack the halo of secrecy around the papers she kept in there.  
  
More than once, as a child, she pretended to be asleep just so that she could spy on the moment the safe was open and the white sheets carefully placed inside of it.  
  
Her memories are blurry, however, watered down by her recent reading of her mother’s letter.  
  
 _This is it_ – it seems – _their final interaction_. She has spent the whole night feeling miserable about it.  
  
Her eyes are dry now, have been for hours, but her insides are cold.  
  
It’s like the past few months never happened, as if all the progress she has made was erased in a single night.  
  
She shudders at the idea of dressing up and leaving the house today, but she _must_ – there’s this strange quality about Zoro, he always makes her feel good about herself, so not only cancelling their plans last minute would be rude, but also counterproductive. Robin would give up anything to take her mind off this.  
  
Abandoning her late-breakfast-slash-early-lunch, a glass of milk and half a bowl of cereals, she puts the dirty dishes in the sink and swiftly returns to her bedroom.  
  
The white wooden wardrobe stares menacingly at her, but Robin proceeds to open it anyway: she couldn’t care less what she ends up wearing, but social etiquette dictates she is at least presentable when visiting someone else’s house, so she starts browsing through the different rows of colorful fabrics, hoping to find something suitable to her needs, and quickly.  
  
Her outfit ends up matching her mood, _all black_ , crop top to high-waisted jeans, boots to leather jacket.  
  
She’s not elegant by any means, but it’s still better than sweatpants and a hoodie. Not knowing what kind of household Zoro lives in, still scarred by her venture in the Monkey D. mansion, the last thing she wants is to leave an awful first impression on his family.  
  
Appearances do matter in their world.  
  
She replies to Saul’s e-mail in the ten minutes she spares after getting ready.  
  
Robin walks out the door at fifteen to three p.m. that Saturday, grabbing her purse and helmet, which are black as well. Her ride to Zoro’s home is quiet, with few red lights and little traffic, and she replays her conversation with Koala in her head.  
  
With everything she has on her plate right now, she’s quite terrified she might just _slip_.

* * *

 _Ding-dong_.  
  
Perona snorts. It’s like the Universe itself is actively working against her today.  
  
She has been working on this stupid assignment for less than an hour and she has already lost count of the times she was interrupted.  
  
Since it’s due on Wednesday and she’s not expecting either a visit nor a delivery, she concludes it must be one of those poor guys who are paid a misery to hand over advertising for things she will never buy, and therefore she decides not to open the door.  
  
Big mistake.  
  
 _Ding-dong_.   
  
She rolls her eyes, getting up with a huff. With half a mind to tell the unfortunate soul to shove his flyers where the sun doesn’t shine, a quick check on the intercom camera spares her from a lifetime of embarrassment.  
  
She has never seen the dark-haired girl on the screen, but she seems too well dressed to be here to scam her and Perona wonders what she could possibly want.  
  
 _Ding-dong_.   
  
_Oh, right_. If she’s not here to sell her stuff, she probably won’t stop ringing the bell unless someone answers the door – or she gets tired and leaves.  
  
She forces a smile before opening it.  
  
“Hi. How can I help you?”  
  
“Hello. I’m… I’m looking for Zoro?”  
  
Perona takes a moment to seize up her appearance. Long, ebony hair creates a sharp contrast with the paleness of her skin and cornflower eyes. She’s tall, taller than her by a foot or so. Whilst she looks more mature than most of her brother’s friends, the baby-fat still on her cheeks betrays her age.  
  
Did girls got _prettier_ in the five years since she graduated from New Marineford?  
  
 _And why is she looking for her little brother_? She doesn’t know much of Zoro’s private life, nor does she usually care, but she’s still sure that the only women he talks to, herself and his teachers aside, are the girls who hang out with the rest of his crew – Nami and… _those other two_ , she can never remember their names – _hell_ , as far as she knows the poor idiot never even had a girlfriend.   
  
“ _Oh_ , I see. I’m Perona”, she chuckles, but her smile is spontaneous now. “It’s very nice to meet you. Come inside, I’ll go fetch my stupid brother for you… _Ugh_ , he probably fell asleep somewhere”.   
  
They shake hands, but, as the other is about to reply a strong whiff of sandalwood and crisp amber hits her nostrils, and she’s compelled to turn around… The green-haired boy looks the same he usually does in his training clothes, but it's the first time in his life that he showered _before_ his exercises.  
  
He’s leaning on one side of the archway that connects the entrance to their living room, in a causal pose, but it is _Mihawk_ ’s cologne the one that is so forcibly assaulting her sense of smell, which betrays him.  
  
“I wasn’t sleeping…”, he mutters.  
  
Is that a _blush_ on his cheeks?  
  
 _Aww_ , Perona can’t wait for her dad to be back from his business trip. This is something they’ll laugh about for years to come.  
  
“Hi, Robin”.  
  
Zoro’s sister takes it as her cue to leave. She has the feeling this isn’t the last she sees of this Robin chick.

* * *

“How long have you been doing this?”  
  
They’ve been in the gym for little over half an hour. Zoro has showed her a couple of his signatures moves, bragged a little about his unique style of combat, _Santoryu_ , the three swords technique.  
  
It looks quite complicated, not to mention uncomfortable – but he seems to know what he does and rather good at it. How he can control a blade with his mouth is beyond her, but she’s having a great time, overall.  
  
Robin loves that she now has a real image to associate to some of the fights she has read about in her books, the steel really does _screech_ as it cleaves through the air.  
  
He doesn’t have an opponent, so he’s somehow limited in the things he can show her, but she’s impressed _,_ nonetheless.   
  
“Pretty much since I was four and the swords were made of rubber…”  
  
The delicate balance between strength, patience and precision this craft requires is quite fascinating.  
  
He has his arms crossed in front of his chest before he starts spinning, heading for his imaginary target.  
  
Zoro leaps high in the air and all three of his blades move in a downward diagonal slash.   
  
“Professionally, ten years or so”.  
  
She waits for the two-minutes break he gives himself after each exercise to speak. “You mentioned your father’s a swordsman, _too_ ”, she recalls. “Is that why you started?”  
  
He lets out a dry chuckle. “ _Uh_ , I wish… That’s actually how I met him”.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
Robin’s not sure what to think.  
  
His voice is calm, a low, strangely soothing tone. Nothing outwardly changes in his demeanor, but his shoulders stiffen a little, and while a not-so-perceptive spectator would miss the detail, she does _not_.  
  
He asserts his thoughts through body language way more than he does with speech.   
  
“He adopted me–”.  
  
 _Oh_. She’s still fairly new to New Marineford, it makes sense that she wouldn’t know about something like this. It's not like Roronoa Zoro is the poster boy for “ _sharing is caring_ ”, anyway.

* * *

“…I had a friend in one of the foster homes, _Kuina_ … She was the best student in her father’s dojo before he died, so she carried on and later introduced me to the discipline. She was older than me and she got quite up in the junior rankings, so much so that the strongest swordsman in the world heard about her accident and showed up at her funeral. My life changed forever that day”.  
  
He's a big, fat, gigantic idiot.  
  
What’s the point of sharing all that?  
  
Why would she _care_?  
  
Zoro’s not the type of guy who opens up with the first person who walks by, or opens up at all, but every time _she_ gets involved it always ends up the same way, with him forgetting the line between polite concern and overbearing-dump-of-information and regretting as soon as his lips are sealed.  
  
There’s no way Robin’s interested in the pathetic story of his life. He can see her pity and he hates it.  
  
“I’m sorry for your loss”, she fumbles with her words. “But it seems everything worked out for the best for you in the end. I’m glad your paths crossed that day”.  
  
He is quite glad, _too_. There would be no brilliant future ahead of him, no ( _pretty, pretty_ ) Robin in his house now – _he’ll never get adopted_ , his foster mother used to say, _he’s got too much of an attitude_ – without Dracule MiHawk and the privileged life being his son somehow entitles him to.   
  
“Thank you”. His eyes search for hers and, when those are found, there’s a clear invite written in their depths. He finds himself taking a deep breath, and resumes, “ _Anyway_ , Kuina and I… We promised each other that we would train our hardest and that one of us would win that title. Obviously, she can no longer uphold her end of the bargain, so I’ve been doing the heavy lifting for both of us”.  
  
It all sounds a bit childish when saying it out loud, but that doesn’t change how he feels. It’s been ten years since he last talked to her, the very first friend he ever had, but his determination to achieve their mutual goal has not swayed once.  
  
He will be the _youngest_ strongest-swordsman-in-the-world.  
  
He will prove to his father that he’s worth the interest he has taken on him back then.  
  
“That’s very sweet of you, _really_ ”, Robin notes, smiling softly. “But how does one become the strongest? Who gets to be the judge of that?”  
  
There are moments, much like the present, where he can’t help but think that she’s _perfect_ – Zoro is grateful for the change of topic in ways that words cannot possibly describe.  
  
One thing is to share his origin story with her, another would be to dwell over feelings he has never found a way to properly assimilate.  
  
“Every five years, the swordsmen and swordswomen who have won more competitions are invited to a tournament where they challenge other candidates and fight for said title. My father has been holding to it for the past twenty years, but, hopefully, it’ll be mine by the end of the school year…”

* * *

They stay in the gym for another hour or so.  
  
Robin’s quite sure he hasn’t shown to her the entirety of his usual workout and cut through the boring parts, but she doesn’t mind – she is having a nice time, which is much needed, and the boy’s company is the perfect distraction from everything else going on with her life.  
  
She’s not convinced that new move he has been perfecting was worth the near physical collapse he had last week, but at least she now knows the behind-the-scenes of it, and she has to admit that it does look quite nice, almost as if he’s dancing with his swords rather than using them to fend off an invisible opponent.  
  
A single foot that touches the ground in the wrong moment or a movement executed even seconds too early would cause him to lose his balance and trip, and she’s quite amazed by the amount of careful, yet obstinate dedication that goes into every gesture.  
  
 _Asura_ – this the name of the complicated sequence.  
  
He moves so fast it’s almost as if he has three heads.  
  
Eventually they return upstairs, with Zoro asking if she wants to join him for his afternoon snack.  
  
It's the first time since she woke up this morning that she feels her hunger calling, so she accepts without thinking about twice, but when they end up sitting next to each other at his table, close enough for their arms to collide if they move it, she finds it extremely hard to focus on the sandwich he so kindly fixed for her.  
  
Now that he’s not occupied with something else, it is not as easy to pretend she’s not affected by his presence, or that her insides aren’t squirming.  
  
Whatever it may be that draws her to him, the more layers she uncovers, the more she feels as if they’ve met a lifetime ago.  
  
It's not much of a consolation prize, but Zoro, too, looks quite on edge.  
  
The things he has shared with her earlier are quite intimate, after all, the foundation of this gruff persona she is becoming so good at reading, so the idea that maybe, just maybe, he might feel that same, odd impulse to reach out with her hand and touch him – _even if it makes no sense, especially when it makes no sense_ – doesn’t even cross her mind.  
  
“You should finally know what Seto cutting off the dragon’s neck is supposed to look like…”, he breaks the awkward silence at some point.  
  
“…That other thing, however, the one he does in the following chapter, that I’m quite sure is not possible in the real world”.  
  
“It figures”, Robin chuckles. “But that’s what I love the most about literature. Anything can happen if someone writes it”.  
  
“How long did you say it was before the final book comes out?”  
  
“Wouldn’t we all like to know”, she pauses, remembering how fiercely he has protested when he finished the fifth one and discovered it was published over three years ago.  
  
The author’s on a hiatus and the fan community has been weeping their absence for a while now.  
  
“There’s been some rumors about the publishing house releasing some sort of raw manuscript around Christmas, but, like I said, it’s just rumors”.  
  
“Maybe they’ll give people the chance to pre-order…”

* * *

It only feels natural to show her the family’s library – even when that means admitting that most of his very small section is made up of comics, but well, Zoro has never been much of a reader.  
  
Sure, he is quite fired up about the saga she has introduced him to, but large part of his interest is due to swordsmanship being one of the main themes, and the rest to the fact he could listen to Nico Robin talking about this particular series of books or any other for the rest of his life.  
  
She seems to enjoy it quite a lot, although she always makes it a point to be vague on her reasons for it.  
  
This attitude of hers takes more and more the shape of a challenge.  
  
He feels a spontaneous urge to crack the code – he is planning to re-read it, but that has _nothing_ to do with the fact he resonates deeply with the protagonist and sees much of his personal experience in his journey to become stronger. _Nope_.  
  
Unlike Perona and against his expectations, she doesn’t make fun of his corner of the library, nor she seems to look down on the titles displayed in it – if anything, it would appear she knows many of them, has even read some and, to top it all of, she also somehow wishes to discuss them with him.  
  
Their afternoon together keeps improving… if he didn’t know any better, Zoro would think they are on a _date_ , because that’s exactly what he has pictured the few times he has thought about asking a girl out.  
  
Now that he thinks about it, he has never done that: even in those rare occasions he did found someone attractive, there was always something else which required his attention first, something more important; with the only girlfriend he has had, _well_ , it’s Tashigi who asked him out in the first place, but he doesn’t want to think back on that disaster right now. He wasn’t willing to really try and eventually Tashigi caught up on reality.  
  
It’s no surprise that she hates him now. He supposes he deserves it.  
  
“ _Oh my_ , I was so mad when they stopped shipping this stuff to Ohara”.  
  
Robin’s eyes are shining with excitement as she picks up a small, red volume which he instantly recognizes. It’s one of his favorites.  
  
“Sure, I tried to keep up with online scans, but it’s hardly the same… I never looked for it in Alabasta, although they probably had it. I guess I just forgot about it”.  
  
Her smile’s a little dimmer now, as if her thoughts are now clouded by a bad memory.  
  
Zoro wishes he could help, but the only thing that comes into mind is, “Suit yourself. My library is your library”.  
  
She lights up again and laughs, cheekily. “Are you proposing, Roronoa Zoro?”  
  
Robin almost chokes on her chuckles over the last part, but he supposes that, from her perspective, it might be worth it. He doesn’t need a mirror to determine his cheeks are currently aflame, he can tell by the heat.  
  
Unfortunately, chemicals do not care about decorum, especially endorphins – after a week of no training, he clearly has been starving for some.  
  
He’s only mildly aware of his embarrassment, because the urge to play _with_ her is stronger than the endless list of reasons he should not allow himself to.  
  
“Is that a _yes_?”  
  
She’s silent now, but nowhere in her face there’s a trace of the revulsion he would expect. It feels almost like a movie, only the slow-motion feels even _slower_ as they are strangely pulled closer to one another…  
  
“ _Umh_ , Zoro”, Perona smirks, standing next to the door. _When the fuck did she arrive_? “Dad’s home”.  
  
It's not the first time he wishes to be an only child, but the only one he means it.

* * *

* * *

It’s rare for Eustass to be so plan- _less_ and bored on a Saturday evening, but his friends – they are not that many – are all otherwise occupied: Apoo is playing at someone’s birthday party, Basil’s out of town and Killer… _well_ , he doesn’t feel like hanging out with Killer today; Trafalgar Law isn’t really an option, he only puts up with his creepy attitude because he sells cheap weed, plus he doubts he would even agree after the whole Bepo-debacle.  
  
Although he has guaranteed for his best friend’s innocence, Kid is not quite so sure.   
  
So that leaves him to his own devices, sitting in front of the tv on a _fucking_ Saturday night.  
  
 _When did he become such a loser_?  
  
The old war-movie unfolding before his eyes is not that captivating, blood and gore aside, and he has never been into videogames as much as he’s into alcohol and girls, so for the most part he just scrolls through his socials, vicariously having fun through the videos and pictures of his peers.  
  
Why some people would think others are interested in what they eat or, _worse_ , what they are reading, is truly beyond him. Eustass rarely posts, but when he does grant outsiders a peek into his life, then he always makes sure people _damn_ know it is better than their own.  
  
Luxury cars, designer clothing, top-notch sports equipment… _you name it_ , _it’s already on his page_. He would never deprive commoners of the joy of imagining they are him, if only for a moment. That would be cruel.  
  
 _No_ , what he really doesn’t get it’s this obsession for the ordinary that people seem to have now.  
  
Dutifully, however, he proceeds to publish the picture of his class they’ve taken at the end of last year and, he compliments himself for the genius, oh-so-original idea, he adds a side by side comparison with the one they took as freshmen. _Obviously_ , only the version of each picture in which _he_ looks his best hits the internet.  
  
Tagging people one by one is a tedious process, so he only takes the time to type the names of those he is on speaking terms with and leaves out everyone else – he doesn’t associate with people like Usopp or Lola for a reason, after all.  
  
This is how he stumbles on Bonney’s profile. Her bright pink hair is the predominant feature in every photo she appears in, which aren’t many.  
  
They look somehow professional, like they were not taken with a phone, respectful of certain aesthetic principles… There are many walls of text, but knowing the girl they are probably _rants_ and he hears enough of those at school already.   
  
He likes her hair.  
  
 _Sure_ , he used to make fun of it all the time in his first years – _c’mon_ , _it is pink_ – but it’s actually pretty cool. It suits her, kind of. He can’t think of another color that would sit as well around her face.  
  
They may be classmates, but they don’t interact very often; when they do, it usually ends up with Bonney rolling her eyes and flipping him off.  
  
For someone called _Jewerly_ , she’s not very sophisticated.   
  
He can’t even tell if they’ve ever had a real conversation, _but that’s not hard to change_ …

* * *

> **20** : **35** \- @ **GOATstass**  
>  _how ya doin’_ 😏
> 
> **20** : **39** \- @ **pizzapromises**  
>  _wtf_  
>  _uh, what do you want?_   
>   
> **20** : **40** \- @ **GOATstass**  
>  _just chat..._  
>   
>  **20** : **40** \- @ **pizzapromises**  
>  _not interested_.

* * *

_Whatever_.  
  
People always say he’s a _dick_ , and perhaps they are right, but they never mention how easy others make the job for him.  
  
It’s like he has the plague – or is the plague himself – by the way people avoid him. It doesn’t even cross his mind that years of taunts are probably the reason Bonney doesn’t want to talk to him.  
  
 _No_ , all Eustass can think of is how much of a _bitch_ she is.  
  
He was just looking for someone to talk to… _well_ , _who cares_ , the movie’s pace is finally picking up.  
  
Who is he trying to fool?  
  
He doesn’t care about the movie, either – _he is bored_ , _bored_ , _bored_.  
  
The thought of texting Nami _instead_ crosses his mind, but he decides against it. If Bonney can’t stand him, his former girlfriend downright hates him. It's more than hate, she abhors him.  
  
He has burnt that bridge and sowed the ground with salt a long time ago.

* * *

* * *

Ace gets out of the car, snags his jacket and wallet from the passenger’s seat and slithers his way out of the parking lot, dodging inebriated groups of friends and litigious couples on his way to the Phoenix’s Nest.  
  
As promised to his brother, he did call Marco the other night, but it’s only today that they can meet up in person. Given the sensitive nature of what they need to discuss, it’s best if they do it face to face.  
  
His best friend stands behind the counter, mixing cocktails and entertaining his customers, but he leaves the job to another employee as soon as his eyes land on him, escorting him to his private office upstairs.  
  
“It's good to see you, man”, Marco greets. “I thought you got sucked up with university again”.   
  
“Trust me, I did”, he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t be here tonight if my brother didn’t ask me to talk to you”.  
  
“Sabo? What’s up?”  
  
“ _Luffy_ ”, Ace corrects him. “Remember last week? We had a couple drinks here with his friends”.  
  
“Sure. I gave you guys my best table. Did something happen I’m not aware of?”, the other asks with a worried expression. “Did another customer bothered them or picked up a fight? I don’t even know why I pay those guys for security…”  
  
“No, _no_ \- It’s nothing like that. No one bothered them… directly”.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“One of his friends, Vivi… She’s Alabasta’s future queen. She overheard one of your customers talking, his name’s Crocodile. He’s the guy who tried to kidnap her last year to force her father to abdicate. He’s been completely off the radar since then, but my brother was wondering if he has left any information about his current whereabouts. Like, if he paid with a credit card, maybe you’d have an address…”  
  
There isn’t really a better way to phrase it. He knows he’s asking a lot of him, best friend or not, like disrespecting his paying customers’ privacy and breaching a couple of laws, but he has googled his name, and now he’s worried about Luffy – he always jumps in head first when his friends are in trouble or in need of help, and it seems the blue-haired princess will need a lot.  
  
This Crocodile sounds… alarming.  
  
“Dark, flicked back hair and the cigar?”, Marco taps a finger on his chin. “I remember him. Drunk a bottle of scotch with his friends, didn’t stay much. I’m afraid he paid with cash”.  
  
The blond dashes for his desk, from where he takes out a green binder.  
  
He flips through some pages, then looks up and smiles triumphantly.  
  
“Normally, I wouldn’t help you with this”, he disclaims. “I run a nightclub, so I make it a habit not to judge my customers for who they are outside these walls”.  
  
“I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t think this was the only way…”, Ace retorts, apologetically. “Since he’s technically not considered a criminal here because he committed his crime somewhere else, there’s no authority I can go to. I considered calling _Pops_ at the police station, but you know he won’t intervene unless he breaks the law here. I’d rather not see that happening…”  
  
“Better safe than sorry”, Marco echoes him. “I understand. I’ll keep my eyes open and demand I see a document if he shows up again, although I’d rather not have someone like him associated with the Nest”.  
  
“Thank you. I _knew_ you I could always count on you”.

* * *

* * *

Detention sucks, especially when it’s assigned by Akainu. He has better, more important things to do than sit in his office and glare at the wall.  
  
It’s only been five minutes, but Law is bored out of his mind already.  
  
He thought he would read a book or something in the next two hours, but the teacher has left as soon as his back touched the chair – since then, his partner in misery has been drumming his fingers over the desk, whistling a strange tune, loud and unapologetic, so studying for the admission test to medical school is clearly not an option.  
  
It’s weird, but he can’t bring himself to resent Luffy for it.  
  
He looks completely unaware of his surroundings, as if absorbed in a world that’s completely his own – he almost feels guilty for interrupting him. _Almost_.  
  
“What’s your sin, Mugiwara- _ya_?”  
  
“ _Uh_?”, he turns around. “Are you talking to me?”  
  
“Do you see anyone else?”  
  
Luffy briefly looks around, then shows a toothy grin. “I failed Akainu’s stupid test, then asked him _why_ Kaku got a better grade than I did by turning in a blank assignment. At least _I_ tried to write something down”.  
  
While his logic is messed up, if what he says it’s true then it would just be another example of CP9 getting preferential treatment from their sponsor, which is not something that is unheard of.  
  
“I can see why that didn’t end well for you”, he muses. “After five years, though… You should know better than-”.  
  
“How did _you_ end up here, Torao-kun?”  
  
He can feel the heat glazing the surface of his cheeks, but he’s good at dissimulating. “ _Here_ ”, he picks up the note the teacher gave him this morning, handing it to him. “Inappropriate language during class”.  
  
“ _Fuck_ ”.  
  
“Yeah, it was something like that”.  
  
Silence reigns for a couple of minutes, before Law breaks it again. As much as he has wished for it, anything is more comfortable than the dark-haired boy staring at him with a smile on his face.  
  
“My classmates have been a little too nice to Bepo lately. I don’t like it”.  
  
Luffy thinks about it for a long moment. “You don’t want them to be friends?”  
  
“He’s not the kind of guy they become friends with, more like the one they exploit. I’m not stupid”, he pauses, wondering why he bothers sharing this with him. Retaliation demands undeniable proof. “It’s almost like Kid feels guilty about something. I’d like to know what that is”.  
  
“I see. You look after your friends”, the other replies, dangling his head on one hand. “I respect that”.  
  
Law looks away. The conversation feels a little too personal, it’s getting awkward. As the definition of antisocial, he barely goes beyond small-talk and, even then, he’s a master at avoiding it.  
  


He sees no point in expressing his feelings through language: they are just something he must control.  
  
“How’s Chopper- _ya_ doing?”  
  
“He hasn’t talked much about it, but he seems fine… We are making it a much bigger deal than he is, apparently. The other day Zoro and Sanji had to physically restrain Nami. She wanted to go over to his table at lunch and slap Eustass in front of everyone”, Luffy recalls. “She says he’s always staring at Chopper”.  
  
Law smirks, but there’s no humor in it. “Can’t say I really blame her. If someone knows how low he can really go, that’s Nami”.  
  
“Was it _that_ bad? We didn’t hang out as much when she was dating him…”  
  
“It wasn’t good, from what little I’ve experienced firsthand. You should ask your friend”, he concludes.  
  
He has never paid much attention to other people’s relationships and he hates gossip, so, really, he wouldn’t be of help anyway. He merely meant that it makes sense for Nami not to trust her ex. He’s a literal ape.   
  
“Maybe I will”.

* * *

Professor Sakazuki shows up at the end of detention, nearly two hours later, with an arrogant smirk.  
  
He must be delighted he has managed to ruin their day, but Luffy knows that showing his discomfort will only make him happier. He won’t give him the satisfaction, so he smiles back.   
  
“…You are expected in the principal’s office tomorrow morning to discuss the reasons you were given detention. Your parents will be notified through e-mail. I will see you boys in class”.  
  
His dark coat flutters around him as he leaves.  
  
His hint is clear – this is far from settled.   
  
“ _Dammit_ ”.  
  
Luffy looks away from the door, back at Law. He’s putting his belongings away with haste.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
“My dad’s not gonna like this…”  
  
“Gramps won’t either. He knows Akainu always hated both me and my brothers, but he doesn’t care. I guess every excuse is good to dish out some of his tough love…”, he muses. “…As if _that_ would work on us like it didn’t with my father”.  
  
“What kind of man is he? _President_ _Dragon_?”  
  
Luffy gives him a bitter smile. “I’m not sure. I only talk to him maybe twice a year. He lives for the job”.  
  
Trafalgar Law’s face morphs into an expression he recognizes all too well.  
  
His father, Donquixote Rosinante, is quite famous in the New World for being one of the _fairest_ men of law out there, but he works for Mary Geoise’s tribunal, the highest authority in the whole country – it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch of imagination to assume that Judge Rosinante wouldn’t have much time to spend with his only son.  
  
Rumors travel in their school faster than they are conceived and none escapes Nami’s ears.  
  
While people are too scared of Law to speculate much about it, just like his best friend Zoro he was adopted at a very young age – and that’s pretty much everything that’s known to the general public about him. Just like Zoro, he uses his popularity to actively suppress any outsider attempt at getting to know him better.  
  
 _Predictably_ , their conversation is getting a little too personal for Law’s taste, so he hangs his backpack on one shoulder and starts to make his way to the door.  
  
“Some jobs are more important than others, I guess”, he smirks. “I’ll see you around, Straw-Hat- _ya_ ”.  
  
 _Bye, Torao-kun_.  
  
Luffy stares dumbly at the door after he disappears. Maybe it’s the adrenaline speaking – but does this mean they are one step closer to being friends? He can’t recall another time in which they’ve talked so much.  
  
He’s strangely… galvanized by their exchange, despite its contents.  
  
His voice is much lower than Luffy’s, deeper – he talks in a slow cadence, feigning boredom, but he is not as great at hiding his feelings as he thinks he is, because they are all there, written at the bottom of his eyes. He can relate to so many of them.  
  
Law looks like someone out of a magazine, so really not his usual cup of tea, but he could look at him for hours: maybe it’s the yellow eyes, or spiky, messy black hair, maybe it’s his smile or maybe it’s his attitude, he really doesn’t know, but he’s just too…  
  
Something’s wrong with him.  
  
He has never felt the urge before to hug someone before because they are _pretty_.

* * *

The odd feeling lingers for the remainder of the day, it’s still there when he sits down for dinner.  
  
It’s only him and Dadan tonight, but the woman is watching her favorite soap opera on the tv, so he knows better than to try and start a conversation with her.  
  
The juicy steak in his plate ogles at him, but there’s no enthusiasm in his jaw as he starts chewing on the meat.  
  
 _Weird_.  
  
All Luffy can think of is black hair and yellow eyes, like something out of a comic book, and the word “death” staring at him from the back of Trafalgar’s hands, inked permanently on his knuckles.  
  
He has always wondered what all of that is about.  
  
“…I can’t believe you’re not breaking up with him. She cheated on you, girl! Dump his sorry _ass_ ”.  
  
She’s an entirely different person when Garp is out of town, but _who_ _isn’t_? The old man would freeze even hell with his attitude – now that he has retired, he’s possibly even more uptight than he used to be.  
  
His grandfather has never been very present in his life, although, unlike someone else, he always tried – dinners like this, with Dadan and the television, _his brothers, too, but sadly they don’t live here anymore_ , this is the stuff most of his family memories are made of.  
  
Luffy prefers this version of the woman, she’s the easiest to anger.  
  
Countless times as a child he would rile her up and then run through the mansion, followed by her, when he asked her to play hide-and-seek and she said no.  
  
She always unconsciously ended up playing with him, although the punishments she dished out whenever she got her hands on him weren’t something he looked forward to.  
  
“ _Ne_ , Dadan?”  
  
She sniffs. “What do you want, Luffy? … _No, no, no_! You can’t marry him, Genevieve!”  
  
“I forgot”, he says, wiggling his eyebrows.  
  
“ _Brat_ ”. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I really hope you're all satisfied with this chapter, because if you are, there's a chance you'll be very happy about the next one. For questions or anything else, please don't hesitate to either leave a comment here or write me a message, I am absolutely never bothered if you want to talk either about this story or OP in general! Here's my links again, as I finally decided on a theme for my **[tumblr](https://hiraethwrites.tumblr.com/)** and added Enel and Urouge to my boards on **[pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/hiraethchan/seven-seas-of-rhye-characters/)** as well as new pictures for most of the other characters. Playlists coming up soon, too! I hope you have a lovely day! 🥰💖


	11. Whatever It Takes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Law dishes out some hard truth, while Zoro gets one step closer to strongest-swordsman-in-the-world and, in the spur of the moment, asks Robin out for dinner.

**ON THURSDAY.**

He drifts in and out of sleep during biology, not too bothered by what Professor Kureha is teaching the class about the human body.  
  
He has spent over four hours at the dojo yesterday, then practiced some more back at home and hanged out with his friends after dinner – to say he’s tired would be an understatement.  
  
With the first official competition coming up this weekend Zoro had half a mind to skip school and get some much needed rest this morning, but he did that already last week, and too much negligence right at the beginning of the school year surely won’t help his grades.  
  
Besides, he wouldn’t want to miss the chance to sneak subtle glances at _her_. Robin cut her hair yesterday, she has bangs now. He’s _obsessed_.  
  
Her doe eyes look bigger, rounder even, and they make his heart flinch when she catches him red-handed and stares back at him.  
  
Things are a little weird between them as it is.  
  
_Honestly_ , he is avoiding her.  
  
He has been so close to kiss her on Saturday; so close, as a matter of fact, that he doesn’t know how to function in her presence anymore. One look at that dimpled face and he is done for, but what’s worse is that _he knows it_.  
  
The idea of what might have occurred if Perona didn’t show up when she did hides in the back of his mind, ready to present itself when it’s less convenient – eating with his father, during a test, in his dreams.  
  
It’s a cold, dainty finger which pokes his cheek at the end of the first period, when Chopper’s mother has already left the classroom.  
  
He pries his eyes open and looks around, sleepily… only to jump in his seat when he notices the person attached to the hand, and Robin’s giggle echoes through the room.  
  
“Wake up, _marimo_ ”, comes from a different, unpleasant voice.  
  
“Kizaru is coming”.  
  
“So, what?”, he drawls in reply.  
  
Luffy, who sits between him and the bane of his existence, just laughs.  
  
He learnt a long time ago not to interfere when he and Sanji are having a go at each other. “Shishishi, you guys are the _worst_ ”.  
  
They both ignore him.  
  
“So, we don’t want the whole class to be punished for your slacking”, the blond replies. “Pull your head out of your _ass_ and pretend you’re listening like we all do for once”.  
  
Zoro is not given the time to reply, which, _in retrospect_ , as Borsalino blabbers about this or that dusty old writer, is probably for the best.  
  
Although he’s not as spiteful as the physics’ professor, he still doesn’t take it lightly when students disrespect him or, worse, the curriculum.  
  
He sits on his anger for the entirety of the lecture, paying attention to anything _but_ what’s being said about poetry – he has so many comebacks to shove down the _ero-cook_ ’s throat as soon as the bell rings and the mid-morning break starts.  
  
Only he doesn’t, because Sanji is dragged outside by Luffy, who’s on a quest for food, the moment their teacher leaves the room.  
  
Zoro decides not to join them.  
  
Hungry Luffy is a _whiny_ Luffy.  
  
“…Are you coming with us?”, asks Nami, putting on her jacket.  
  
“We’re taking a walk in the gardens. The weather’s too good today not to take advantage”.  
  
It sounds like the lesser of the two evils, although that’s largely because of Robin being part of the second scenario.  
  
She doesn’t seem too happy about going outside either – she’s extremely clever, after all, even by New Marineford standards; she has probably figured out, by now, that these walks usually end up with Nami leisurely gossiping with strangers all over the school, and the rest of them patiently waiting on the side for it to be over.  
  
_Damn_ , maybe he should have gone with the two idiots…

* * *

“Can you believe we got Akainu and _then_ two hours with Kuma?”, Vivi complains as the group finally exits the building. “Do we have to study for Aokiji’s test or not, by the way? Do you think he’ll miss class tomorrow like he did yesterday?”  
  
The sun feels pleasant on their cheeks, despite the cool, end of September breeze, but all thoughts of this kind are promptly washed away by the princess’ questions.  
  
Robin can feel anyone’s eyes on her.  
  
Technically, she doesn’t know where the math professor is, but she has a suspect. _Ohara_.  
  
There was a second man in the room yesterday when Saul called her.  
  
He hasn’t returned yet, he said the local authorities need him there a little longer, but she has recognized the voice of his “ _old friend_ ” – or so he called him.  
  
Robin’s not sure why Kuzan would be there, but he had no place at dinner last week and he showed up anyway, so it would somehow be consistent with his character.  
  
She’s trying not to think about the robbery, or her mother’s safe – if there was something she could do to help she would do it, gladly, but she’s in Grand Lines City, thousands of miles away, so her hands are quite tied.  
  
“I don’t know”, she deadpans in the end. “It’s his birthday next week, but I don’t think he would skip work because of _that_ …”  
  
“I say we study anyway”, suggests Kaya, promptly.  
  
As much as she’d enjoy the opportunity to slack it off, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when Aokiji, as a professor, is already so hard to please.  
  
“We can’t tell for sure. What are we going to do if he shows up and gives us the test tomorrow?”  
  
Nami smiles innocently, “We ask him to postpone?”  
  
They may not be close now, but Robin can see how that would end in tragedy for the class – unless Kuzan’s whole personality underwent dramatic, life-altering changes over the past couple of years, there’s no way he’ll agree to reschedule the math exam.  
  
She knows how he thinks, he expects them to be ready at all times.  
  
“That’ll never work, I’m afraid”, she exhales. It’s better if they don’t entertain the idea not to study, it would end in a massacre, “At least we have the rest of the day to study, it won’t be that bad…”  
  
Well, she doesn’t mean it, but someone has to try and raise the morale. Similar grunts raise from the rest of the group, only Chopper seems unfazed by their present dilemma – but he’s a prodigy student who has skipped multiple classes, he aces math with the same ease he breathes.  
  
“ _I_ , for one, hope he doesn’t show up”, says Zoro after a while. “I have other priorities at the moment”.  
  
Nami speaks up before Robin can ask him what those are. “… _Nervous_?”  
  
They’ve been friends for over a decade, so it shouldn’t really surprise her when other people know more about what’s going on in Zoro’s life than she does, but it still hurts a little, because she has no idea what the two are referring to.  
  
Kaya, Vivi and Chopper – not one of them seems confused by their words.  
  
“A little bit”, he admits. “I’ve been practicing like crazy, but everyone else has”.  
  
_Oh_ , she sees what this is about.  
  
He must have finally gotten the e-mail he was waiting for, although he does look as if he’s been under a lot of pressure lately. She probably knows less details than anybody else, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how much the title he’s seeking means to him… Robin remains silent.  
  
“I’m sure you’ll do great”, Nami smiles, encouragingly. “Haven’t you been training your whole life?”  
  
“Like I mentioned, everyone has”, he reminds her, but returns the smile.  
  
“Anyway, I’ll probably go over some basics after dinner, but if Aokiji gives us the test tomorrow I am _fucked_ ”.  
  
Now, Robin would love to help – share her suspects on the professor’s whereabouts. She would offer to call him and resolve the matter once and for all, but the words tangle themselves on the tip of her tongue, and the moment passes before she can try again. _No_ , _that would be stupid_ – she would never call him.  
  
It feels weird enough that he’s her teacher now, that she’s forced to pretend she didn’t feel as lost and abandoned back then… no, it’s an authentic agony every single time they cross paths, she would never willingly contact him outside of school. Even in class, she always does her best to avoid him despite sitting in the front row.  
  
“ _Oi_ , guys!”, Luffy calls, excitedly, from somewhere behind them.  
  
He’s carrying different bags of chips, followed by a gruff-looking Sanji.  
  
“Listen up! I have some good news and then some _great_ news”.  
  
“What’s up, captain?”, Nami questions. “Spill it out, already”.   
  
“We bumped into Caribou on our way here… He was supposed to tell our class that Aokiji called in sick for tomorrow. That means _no_ test!”  
  
“What’s the great news?”  
  
“They asked Brook to replace him”.  
  
Not long after that the group starts heading back towards the building, ready for their brains to be seriously hammered by Sakazuki’s lecture.  
  
Whilst she’s happy the mystery has been eventually resolved, which means more free time this evening, Robin can’t help but feel a little…  
  
_...useless_.  
  
You could take her out of the picture, nobody would notice the difference – or so she thinks.  
  
Maybe she’s overreacting, but it feels like she’ll always be the new girl.

* * *

“...Robin, can I talk to you for a moment?”  
  
He has debated for almost a week whether or not he should approach her on the subject, but the more days have passed since he has seen her storming out of the Baratie, the more he thinks there’s more to it then she’s letting on. The others may think she’s fine, she’s quite at good at pretending she is, but a _real man_ like Sanji just knows when a lady is hurting, and he can tell this one is desperate.  
  
She hesitates for a moment.  
  
“Sure. Is something wrong?”  
  
“No, no. Nothing like that”, he shakes his head. “As you already know I’m training to be a chef at the Baratie during the summer. Sometimes I like to go there in my free time during the school year, too”.

  
Robin doesn’t say anything.  
  
She blinks at him, waiting for an explanation.  
  
“My point is, I was working last Friday when you were there with…”  
  
“ _Oh_ ”, she opens her mouth, then she closes it. “I… The restaurant was really beautiful”.  
  
“The food tastes even better”, he quips, “You should try it next time”.  
  
She gives him an apologetic smile, and he’s almost persuaded not to press the matter any further, but his gut thinks otherwise.  
  
“It’s complicated”, she admits. “I’m sorry I left like that”.  
  
It sounds more like Robin’s sorry that she got caught, but he doesn’t want to embarrass her any further.  
  
“I don’t care about that”, he hastens to reply. “I just wanted to tell you that I know my fair share about family issues, so please don’t hesitate to call me if you need a shoulder to cry on, or advice. You have my number”.  
  
They are tailing the rest of the group as they make their way to the cafeteria for lunch, so this should be a _somewhat_ private conversation, but Sanji is not surprised when he hears a familiar growl.  
  
He knows Zoro has been eavesdropping the whole time – it’s the _why_ that leaves him perplexed.   
  
“Thank you, Sanji, but I’ll have to stop you right there. That man is _not_ family”.  
  
“As you wish”, he shrugs, “Just know that I have loads of experience which I don’t mind sharing with you”.  
  
Another growl, but this time’s a little closer. They’ve finally reached the cafeteria and it is packed.  
  
As they wait for their turn for the food, he decides to bid his farewell to Robin, smiling at the girl with all the charisma he possesses – which, in his humblest opinion, is a force to be reckoned with.  
  


“Think about it, Robin-ch _w_ an!”  
  
He might not be the one she’ll open up to, but perhaps she will consider the idea and talk to someone.  
  
Sanji has a history of piling up his feelings until he exploded, and it is never a good strategy.  
  
He saunters to the head of the line, already preoccupied with different thoughts.  
  
_Nami looks so pretty in a ponytail_.

* * *

* * *

Law is quite grateful when the bell finally rings and he can leave the pathetic mixture of entitlement and misery that he calls his class for at least an hour.  
  
Sure, there’s still two more hours to bear, but at least the week is finally over – one more day and it’s the weekend.  
  
It’s a pity Rosinante is very precise in his virtual correspondence and checks his e-mail every morning before work, he’s definitely not pleased about his time in detention and mandatory slap on the wrist in the principal’s office, where he has had to sit through a fifteen minutes sermon over the importance of _decorum_.  
  
Like a true judge, his father has (barely) listened to his reasons and dished out his punishment: he can’t leave the house for the whole weekend or invite Bepo over like he probably would, but it’s not too bad.  
  
He had nothing planned and, honestly, anything’s better than being shipped off to his uncle Doflamingo’s house… That man is the walking embodiment of _creepy_ , if he gets to say so himself.

  
“Are you okay, Law?” His best friend looks worriedly at him. “You look… _Well_ , how to put this nicely. You’re brooding more than usual”.  
  
Penguin and Shachi nod emphatically. “What’s up, man?”  
  
Law just shakes his head.  
  
He’s not sure how the hell he ended up with friends like them.  
  
“Let’s get out of here now”.  
  
The quartet makes their way out of the classroom and downstairs, headed for the cafeteria.  
  
Bepo and the others are sharing their guesses on today’s menu, the former hopes for _lasagna_ , but Law doesn’t pay much attention to them as they walk around, too distracted by the phone that from time to time vibrates in his pocket. He doesn’t need to look at the screen to know who’s texting him.  
  
He’s avoiding Basil… not that there’s anything serious or even remotely _proper_ between, just a cold, underdeveloped friendship which sometimes leads to some… _benefits_ , but he knows it’ll still be a pretty awkward conversation when he finally gathers up enough courage to break things off, so he’s not looking forward to that.  
  
Most definitely – he doesn’t want to do it in school.  
  
Hawkins is quite the _drama queen_.  
  
He’d ask him to meet up tomorrow afternoon, so that he has the whole weekend to get over it, _yeah_ , _that should be more than enough time_ , but then he remembers he’s grounded, and that his father is on his flight back home right now – he won’t be able to elude surveillance this time.  
  
This is going to be shit for his business. Most of his client-base prefers to get high in the weekend.  
  
It’s only a flash of golden hair, followed by the coarse sound of a low, decadent laugh, but he would recognize that sound anywhere, so his first instinct is to flee.  
  
It would only take for Basil to turn around to notice him… He pats a hand on Bepo’s shoulder, smiling tightly.  
  
“I forgot there’s something I need to check in my locker…”, Law trails off, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
If his best friend thinks this is about his little _part-time job_ , then he’ll know better than to question him in front of Penguin and Shachi, or so he hopes.  
  
“I’ll see you later in P.E.?”  
  
Bepo looks torn, and a bit miffed, but he lets it go for now. “I’ll get you something to eat”, he says. “Don’t be late, though. I know you hate Sentomaru, but she hates us too, _so_ …” _  
  
_“I won’t be late”.  
  
Trafalgar would like nothing more than to stick to his promise, but he couldn’t foresee the ambush which takes place as he finally gets in front of his locker. He doesn’t really need to pick up anything from it, but it’s not like he has somewhere else to go.  
  
He just wanted to avoid Basil, whom, unfortunately, has slipped away from his own group of friends in a similar fashion… but now he’s being pressed between the metal surface and a slim, familiar body, cold lips brushing playfully against his own.  
  
His goosebumps, this time, are not caused by arousal. He freezes in place, eyes widened in shock; they always partook in their activities outside of school, so while there are technically no witnesses around, it is still a bit weird to be kissed in the hallway, where everyone might stroll by and see them.  
  
Especially now that he’s been looking for a way to suppress their arrangement…  
  
“…Basil. _No_ ”.  
  
His voice comes out a little nervous, he even skipped lunch to avoid this conversation, but he guesses it can’t be helped now. It should be easy, after all: _We had a good time, I’m no longer interested_ – the usual.   
  
Conjuring up the words, however, it’s still a struggle.  
  
It’s not a strong suit of his, deciphering people’s feelings, but there’s no other word that better describes the disappointment now etched on the blond’s face.  
  
_Ew_ , _feelings_.  
  
Basil takes a step back, “ _I- I see_ ”.   
  
There’s a small blush on his cheeks, but other than that he looks just as impassible and collected as he usually does.  
  
Law knows he should have called it off the moment he realized the other was getting attached, but if the roles were reversed, he’s pretty sure Hawkins would have done exactly the same – it takes one selfish _bastard_ to recognize another. He feels no guilt, just mild embarrassment.  
  
“I would have talked to you over the weekend, but I can’t…”, he trails off, stiffly. He’s not a big fan of admitting his almost eighteen years old ass has been grounded. “So-”

  
“There’s no need”, Basil holds up a hand in front of him, “I understand. Can I just ask _why_?”

  
_Isn’t that a long list_ – Law muses.  
  
First and foremost, he would like to say, you’re close to someone who may or may not tried to _drown_ my best friend. Unlike you, _I_ _simply have standards_. You’re frivolous, he would add, you only do things when they benefit you, even to the detriment of someone else, and I just _really_ , _really_ don’t want to have sex with you anymore… there doesn’t need to be a reason at all. _I just don’t_.  
  
Unluckily, saying any of that would make their pseudo-breakup even weirder, so he resorts to the first vague but seemingly contextual response he can think of.  
  
“It’s not what I’m looking for”.  
  
He turns his back on him, opening the locker and grabbing the first two books he sets his eyes on.  
  
He really hopes Basil takes the offered opportunity and sneaks away silently, but he doesn’t.  
  
When Law turns around again, his icy blue eyes are still fixated on him. The smile on his lips is overwhelmingly _fake_.  
  
“We had a good time…”, he notes, wistfully, before taking his leave.  
  
Law smirks at that.  
  
Impeccable choice of words.

* * *

* * *

Nothing makes him happier – if there is something that compares to the way he’s feeling now, then Zoro has never experienced it, because not a single idea comes to mind.  
  
It’s done, he _won_.   
  
He has sliced his way through the opponent’s guard and secured the first match, he is one step closer to the title of strongest swordsman in the world that he is ever been.  
  
He has worked hard for this, gave up on a giant portion of his time and sleep over the years, not to mention his private life… _finally_ , it is all starting to pay off.  
  
It’s with bittersweet energy that he shakes hands with the other swordsman – he looks absolutely _wrecked_ , and who can really blame him, considering a single defeat means you’re out of the tournament and need to wait five more years for another chance.  
  
That’s why he has been so tense lately, after all.   
  
Five years ago, he was very determined to snatch his father’s title, and at such a _younger_ age, but determination alone didn’t get him very far into the competition.  
  
Now he still shares the same goal, surpassing him, but his heart is in a different place: he is doing it for himself… and Kuina.  
  
Tashigi doesn’t seem very pleased to see him when he crosses her path on his way to the locker-room, but he congratulates her on her match, nonetheless. She has improved immensely, and although it’s been a long time since he has last seen her wielding a sword, it’s clear she must have trained just as hard as he did.  
  
“You did a great job”, he notes, “That poor girl was doomed”.  
  
“Why, thank you”, she snickers. “I just imagined I was cutting _you_ ”.   
  
Zoro shrugs, stepping away from her. He smirks, “…It worked, though”.  
  
The locker-room is empty when he enters it, but he still opts for a quick shower so that he can be out before it gets too late.  
  
His father waits for him in the stands, in the same privileged spot from where, as the current champion, he has watched the competition, but there’s no trace of Perona.  
  
“Your sister went to talk to a friend, she said she’ll meet us by the car”.  
  
Dracule Mihawk smiles at his son, pleased with the teen's most recent accomplishment.  
  
He knew Zoro could do it if only he kept his focus and a hand of steel on his thoughts – he is very proud of his son. However, he finds himself at a bit of an impasse when he tries to be outspoken about it, he is not the type of man who is overtly open in his approval.  
  
That’s not the way he was raised.  
  
“You did well, Zoro”, he notes. “It seems I’ll have to start polishing _Yoru_ for when you come after me”.  
  
“Thank you, dad”, the green-haired swordsman grins up at him.  
  
His father just insinuated he’ll get to the end of the tournament, where he’ll be finally able to challenge him, and it’s the best compliment he could wish for.   
  
“I reserved a table for us at Baratie to celebrate, but the office called while you were changing, something came up and I really, really need to go check on this myself… I’m afraid it’ll be just you and your sister”.  
  
“ _Uh_ , actually”, Perona interrupts him, appearing out of nowhere.  
  
She looks pleadingly at the two.  
  
“My friend is throwing a party at her place tonight, and, well, I’d really like to go, if you don’t mind”.  
  
Zoro doesn’t even pretend to be upset. Honestly, he’s surprised his father assumed he would win and planned the evening accordingly.  
  
Since something else has come up that requires his attention, nothing out of the ordinary – the idea of having dinner with his sister is just plain weird, that’s the kind of restaurant couples go to, so he understands when she tries to bail out.  
  
He doesn’t hold it against her that she’d rather spend her Saturday night with people of her age, because he can’t stop thinking about the same thing. Technically the table is already booked, plus he knows for a fact that Sanji won’t be working tonight…  
  
...perhaps he’s still a bit high on adrenaline, but asking Robin to join him for that dinner doesn’t seem as crazy as it normally would.  
  
Actually, it sounds… _perfect_.  
  
“Have fun at your party”, he shrugs, dismissing her with a smile.  
  
Their father seems on the verge of intervening, possibly to tell Perona she shouldn’t leave him alone just like he will be doing very soon, but Zoro shakes his head, and he refrains.  
  
“Don’t be too late…”, he chastises his older child. She may be going to university now, but she still lives under his roof. He has a similar smile, however, as he watches her retreat.  
  
Despite the cold demeanor, she has a kind heart. He really does hope she enjoys herself, although he knows he would probably disprove of pretty much everything she partakes in when she’s around her friends.  
  
“…And she’s gone”.  
  
“Do you mind changing the reservation to my name? I might as well go out with a friend, too, since I’m all alone on my big night…”, Zoro adds the last bit mainly to rile him up, but he doesn’t regret his choice in the slightest when Mihawk succumbs to his guilt, handing him enough money not only to pair for the dinner, but to also finance his sake-addiction for the rest of the month.  
  
“Have fun, son”, he says. “Same rule applies to you, don’t be too late. We’ll celebrate properly tomorrow”.  
  
Luckily for both, they came here today independently, so it’s easy for them to leave the same way. Father and son hug near the entrance before parting ways. When Zoro finally reaches his motorcycle, the sun is beginning to set into the horizon.  
  
Somehow, he still can’t believe he won.  
  
He reaches for the phone in the back pocket of his jeans, scrolling quickly through his list of contacts in search of the person he wants to call.  
  
There she is – _Nico_ _Robin_.  
  
“…Hello? Zoro?”  
  
There’s a hint of surprise in her voice, but she recovers quickly.  
  
“Is there something you need?”  
  
“Actually, _yes_ …”, he trails off, “…Do you already have plans for later? I need company”.  
  
She draws a sharp breath, a buzzing sound coming out of the speaker. “What do you have in mind?”  
  
So, _this is it_ – the second moment of truth he has in one day.  
  
If he asks his question now, then he’ll have to accept the consequences no matter what she answers.  
  
If she says yes then he’ll probably have the best day in a very long time, but if she says no… _well_ , things are probably going to be a little awkward around her for a while.  
  
He finds that he doesn’t care, though.  
  
Maybe he’s crazy, maybe he has completely misunderstood her body language last week, but for one glorious moment she looked like she was expecting a kiss from him, _eager_ to get one, even, and the image has been torturing him ever since.  
  
“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me”.  
  
Robin hesitates.  
  
His happiness starts to drain, until, “…How long do I have to get ready? Do I have to meet you somewhere, _or_?”, she lets her question hang, her voice a little less affirmative than usual.  
  
“I’ll pick you up in an hour, if that’s okay with you”.  
  
“I’ll see you in an hour, then”.  
  
_Boop_. Just like that, she ends the call.  
  
Zoro smiles stupidly at his phone, then secures it in his pocket once more, starting the engine and wearing his black helmet.  
  
It’s always a little tricky to move his swords via bike, but he makes the trip back home safely, more easily than he normally does.  
  
It’s only when he locks the door behind him that, _oh boy_ , does he start to panic.  
  
What if he makes a fool of himself?

* * *

He has thought long and hard about his conversation with Law.  
  
Basil always knew things would end between them at some point, but he always thought it would happen when they graduate, because _he_ decides it’s for the best – his rejection stings, it awakens a demon in his chest that's been sleeping for quite some time now…  
  
Of course, in front of Law he pretended it’s not a big deal, but truth is he is not ready to let go of him, or that fantastic body of his.  
  
On the contrary, he will make him sorry. He will regret his decision and crawl back to him – only then he’ll be ready to move on, and, hopefully, crush his ego once and for good.  
  
Who does he think he is, _anyway_?  
  
He can’t toy with him like this!  
  
Basil is not sure which buttons to push in order to undo him because Law is always so mysterious, but he’ll find something appropriate for his goals… _eventually_.  
  
It’s the first time someone breaks up with him, he’s usually the one who dumps the other – what happened today doesn’t sit well with him at all.  
  
How dare he?  
  
_It’s not what I’m looking for_ – he said. What the _fuck_ is that even supposed to mean?  
  
He picks up his phone, wrapping some golden locks around his index finger.  
  
He sends a text to Apoo, then another to Killer, asking them to meet up later tonight for a couple of drinks.  
  
Luckily for him Eustass is out of town, so he can finally question his best friend without Kid jumping in to cover his tracks, much like he has done since his birthday party.  
  
The two have been acting way too suspiciously, he’s going to be surprised if it turns out they are _not_ hiding something.  
  
Since both friends accept his offer, Basil concludes it’s time he starts to get ready, and starts setting up a nice bath for himself in the master bathroom.  
  
He lets himself sink into the tub, and the warm water soon starts relaxing his whole body – and that’s where his plot for revenge comes to life.

* * *

Robin’s not sure she’ll be dressed up and ready to go in time – if ever.  
  
This is all very new to her, a literal first experience: the swordsman made no mention of the rest of the group when he asked her out, which, unless she missed something in their exchange ( _she didn’t_ ), it means that it’ll be just the two of them at dinner.  
  
She can’t quite tell how she feels about it. On one hand she’s excited, because she has come to the conclusion that she really likes this boy, or spending time with him, but on the other she’s not sure accepting his invitation was the right choice: after their small get together last week, she thinks it has been proven once and for all that restraint is a craft she hasn’t mastered yet.  
  
Had his sister not interrupted, she has no doubt she would have, _indeed_ , kissed him back if Zoro attempted to cover the distance between them.  
  
It’s maddening, to say the least – the more she tries to convince herself that she’s walking down a very dangerous path, the more her brain becomes unresponsive to such stimuli, capable only to focus on details she should really, for the sake of her goal, not pay any attention to, like the contrast between the gold of his earrings and his tan, or the low, rumbling sound his chest produces when he laughs.  
  
Robin taps, impatiently, her right foot on the floor. She stands in front of her open wardrobe, browsing absent-mindedly through her favorite clothes; she doesn’t have strong opinions on fashion, she has never cared much: she buys what she thinks looks nice and dresses accordingly, but she wouldn’t know _horseshit_ about the latest trends, or the best way to style a certain piece.  
  
Combining that with the fact she has never been asked on a date before, if _that_ ’s what she and Zoro are doing later is called, the girl finds that she has no idea what she should wear.  
  
She wants to be casual, but… _pretty_? _Uh_ , the way girls like Nami must feel all the time, she supposes – she doesn’t know, she is very new to this kind of thoughts as well.  
  
She has considered asking the orange-haired girl for advice, then decided strongly against it.  
  
Now, that would be embarrassing.  
  
She would pester Robin with questions, demand she tell her where she’s going and whom she is going out with – there’s still the small chance their friends will meet with them at the restaurant, of course, but she can’t risk it: again, if this was about the group, chances are it wouldn’t have been Zoro the one to call her…  
  
Internet doesn’t offer her much help, either. Sure, a lot of those "outfit ideas" look nice and everything, but they are a bit overly complicated for her taste, not to mention too colorful.  
  
She’s surprised by how _tragic_ the absence of baby-blue in her arsenal seems now that she has finally seen with her own eyes what other people wear. She settles for one of her favorite dresses, she bought it little after moving to Alabasta, over two years ago, but despite how much she loves it, she never had a chance to wear it.  
  
It was too heavy for sunlight, too thin for the desert’s nights – it’s appropriate enough for her current location.  
  
She doesn’t have too much time to dwell on it, anyway.  
  
The doorbell will ring in less than forty-five minutes and she still has not stepped into her shower. She’s a little ashamed of her desperate need for approval, but she hangs the dress on the back of her bathroom’s door and sends a picture to Koala.  
  
The reply comes a while later, when she’s putting on her eyeliner; flustered by the ringtone she elongates the tail on the second eye a bit too much, so then she is forced to fix the first one accordingly.  
  
Her friend seems very enthusiast about the dress, she asks where she is going and invites her to wear something equally nice tomorrow at her birthday party.  
  
Then she sends another message, with the time and an address.  
  
She’s not sure she’ll be up for going out again tomorrow, but she feels it would be a little rude not to go, and that she’d regret it if she doesn’t cultivate her friendship with Koala.  
  
It’s nice to have someone in her life to talk to, someone that’s not necessarily entangled in it, someone with an objective point of view.  
  
She suspects her attendance to her party will largely depend on the outcome of tonight’s dinner, not that there will necessarily be one.  
  
This is what’s driving her crazy: Robin has no idea what to expect.  
  
She’d lie if she said she doesn’t want to spend time with him, but _why_ does he? She has been around him, especially at school, enough time now to know that he has a pretty cold relationship with most of the girls in the crew with the exception of Nami, whom, however, he still doesn’t take out on dates, not as far as she knows.  
  
She’s not sure how much time he spends with the rest of the crew in his free time, but he’s incredibly close to Luffy. The elements cynically point at a _special interest_ he must have for her, but that’s not the hill she’s willing to die on. If there’s one thing she knows, it’s that making assumptions about other people’s feelings and thoughts always ends in tragedy.   
  
Robin’s dark hair is still a bit humid when the doorbell eventually rings, but she puts on her jacket and hurries to the door. She had no idea what to do with it, anyway, so she just lets it hang around her shoulders.  
  
She puts her eye in front of the peephole, cautiously, to check the identity of her guest – she may be trying not to give too much thought about it, but knowing that Crocodile is in Grand Line City is giving her a lot of anxiety, because she is the one who single-handedly stopped his _coup d’état_.  
  
Upon spotting the familiar green on Zoro’s head, the girl relaxes visibly and slowly opens the door.  
  
There’s no way of telling what will happen next, she only has the faint wish that it’ll be something good. 

* * *

He is a little taken aback when his eyes finally land on her, regretting instantly that he didn’t stop to buy her flowers as he notices the daffodils printed on her dress.  
  
She looks so beautiful in it, with her precarious smile… if he was afraid he would be too obvious about his intentions, then surely his lack of coherent speech and expression of pure bewilderment are not helping his case. Without a shred of doubt, he looks every bit as nervous as he currently feels.  
  
“Good evening, Robin”, he greets her when he finally gets a hold of himself, albeit it comes out less smoothly than it sounded in his mind.  
  
Zoro steadies himself to pay her the mandatory (and _well-deserved_ ) compliment, but it takes him too long to formulate his thoughts in a way that doesn’t make him sound like a horny fourteen year old, so, by the time he makes it to open his mouth, his date has already grabbed her purse, heels clicking lightly on the parquet, and joined him outside after making sure she has locked the door properly.  
  
“Shall we go then?”  
  
Out of instinct, he offers her his arm.  
  
_People do that_ , _right_?  
  
Zoro’s not sure what kind of behavior is expected of him now that he has asked her out for dinner. It’s not like he’s an expert at this stuff, for him the definition of “date” is simply hanging out with someone you find attractive, the fact they’ll be eating in one of the fanciest restaurants in town is just a convenient opportunity.  
  
He probably would have asked her to spend the evening together _anyway_ , as that was the only thought in his mind once the referee proclaimed him the winner, but now he’s afraid he has made it all too formal.  
  
It will be hard to recreate the same atmosphere of last week inside of the Baratie.  
  
The pair climbs down the iron stairs, where he has parked his motorcycle right next to Robin’s.  
  
He hands her the extra helmet he has brought along, then picks up the leather jacket he keeps there and gives it to her as well.  
  
“We still have little over half an hour before the reservation…”, he trails off, nervously. “I thought we could take the longer route to the Baratie, there's a couple of places I’d like to show you”.  
  
She lightens up visibly, gifting him with a smile that leaves him quite dumbfounded, then proceeds to wear the helmet, securing the chin strap, before moving on to his jacket.  
  
The one she’s wearing doesn’t look like it will provide much warmth as they speed down the highway, and he can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to wear a skirt on a bike – so maybe he won’t speed that much at all, he doesn’t want her to get colder than absolutely necessary.  
  
Perhaps he should have just taken the car, although he has been itching for a ride the whole week.  
  
“What kind of places?”  
  
“Just some of the best roads in Grand Line City”, Zoro explains, simultaneously starting up the engine. “Don’t get me wrong, your house is practically at a walking distance from everywhere that matters, but that means lower speed limits, and loads of people around that you don’t want to run over with your motorcycle…”

* * *

For obvious reasons, namely that he is driving and they couldn’t possibly hear each other over the engine’s constant rumble, they don’t talk as they take off from her apartment, delving into a part of the city which she has never explored, but the moment is perfect as it is.  
  
Robin doesn’t feel the need for words as she takes in all that Grand Line City has to offer to the nightly wanderer, but she’s grateful for the leisure pace with which the vehicle moves – although she suspects he’s afraid to succumb to his notorious bad sense of direction, she appreciates the opportunity to slowly store away in her mind all the different squares and the buildings, all the little shops she now wants to visit…  
  
At first she grips the tail fairing to balance herself, like any respectable biker would do, but eventually the pot holes on the ground become wider and more far-spread, so she resolves to put her hands on his waist, careful not to squeeze him too tightly, and the ride becomes quite more comfortable from there on.  
  
It was never a problem before, _touching him_ – this is not the first time he drives her somewhere with his motorcycle. It’s the current circumstances which are messing with her, she’s aware of it but at the same time she doesn’t seem able to do much about it. His choice of restaurant has her a little on edge.  
  
Of course, Zoro cannot possibly know about her troubled relationship with fancy restaurants, or even the awful first experience she had at the place last week, but she still dreads the moment she’ll step back into the Baratie.  
  
What if the staff recognizes her and mentions the last and only time she’s been there? What if _Sanji_ is there?  
  
She never voices her doubts to the boy, but he dissipates them anyway as they make a brief stop for one of the best sights in the entire Grand Line City, or so the billboard pinned to the ground claims.  
  
They are pretty up on the hills, just about to enter the highway, and from there they can see the town stretching out in all directions, mountain to coast.  
  
“If it were up to me, I’d go somewhere less snobbish. But I was gifted this table to celebrate _,_ and…”, he clears his throat, “ _Err_ , I guess you're the person I’d like to do that with”.  
  
Not sure what to say, Robin removes her helmet even though that means exposing her blush. It’s dark outside, but it doesn’t help that they are standing directly under a streetlight.  
  
She stares at him for a long moment, repeating his words in her mind.  
  
They prompt a flattered smile which she doesn’t bother trying to hide.  
  
“What are we celebrating?”  
  
Then she suddenly remembers a conversation she overheard earlier this week, so she doesn’t really need an answer to continue.  
  
“There was your match today!”, she gasps. “ _Oh my God_ , Zoro, you won?”   
  
He removes his helmet as well, flashing a smirk.  
  
“ _Yup_. Moved right to the next round”.  
  
Robin is very happy for him.  
  
He told her how important this is, she treasures the moment in which he shared with her the reason he pushes himself so hard to become the strongest.  
  
She doesn’t think her brain is the one which sends down the impulse when she swings her arms up and pulls him into a hug.  
  
“That is amazing”, she congratulates him. “Well, I hope you feel really great right now. You deserve it”.  
  
Zoro locks both arms behind the small of her back, drawing her closer as he starts to return the hug.  
  
She gets a hard sniff of the cologne he must have put on his neck; it smells different than the one he sported last week, but it’s equally intoxicating.  
  
Her arguments against loosening up a little and seize opportunities when they present themselves are falling one by one: not a single one of her predictions anticipated even remotely the way she feels now. Robin likes him and – _somehow_ – he seems to like her.   
  
Maybe it’s a little naïve of her, but she refuses to believe there’s something inherently wrong with that.  
  
There’s no place she’d rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you stuck with me until now, then you probably already know where this is going and hate me because I'm ending the chapter here. 🥺
> 
> If everything goes accordingly to plan, the next update might be as soon as tomorrow. They were written back to back and, yeah, I really want to put it up asap and hear what you guys think about it. Have an awesome day! 💖
> 
> ([here](https://hiraethwrites.tumblr.com/ssor-music) you can find the masterlist with all the playlists I'm putting together for these characters.)


	12. Levitating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Zoro and Robin's date climaxes and ends, while Doflamingo taunts his nephew and Rosinante is none the wiser.

The pair is much more relaxed when the two eventually reach their Baratie after their small stop.  
  
The night ahead of them seems promising, riddled with opportunities to have a fun time together.  
  
All Zoro can think of, however, is just how small, sweet and, overall, _right_ she has felt earlier in his arms.  
  
He has had to fight hard against the urge to kiss her there and then, but it’s not like the job is any easier now, as she sits quietly just a couple of inches from him, her cornflower eyes looking up at him from behind dark, long eyelashes.  
  
He’s not as nervous as he anticipated. If anything, this feels natural.  
  
He has been inexplicably drawn to her from the very first time they met, but he has stopped questioning himself about it. _What is there not to like_ , he wonders. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s beautiful – they may have different interests, but they never run out of something to talk about.  
  
Time flies when he’s by her side.  
  
It flies so much that he doesn’t notice the waiter who has approached them to take their orders, not immediately, and he’s only snapped out of his thoughts when Robin asks him politely for a bottle of champagne. He has noticed she tries to avoid drinking when it’s possible, so the sudden change doesn’t go unnoticed. He doesn’t have many female friends, so his comparisons are a bit _limited_ , but she has the same tolerance of people who drink a lot more than she does, like Nami or Kaya, which is odd.  
  
He doesn’t ask her about it, though.  
  
Their waiter returns very quickly – when did he leave? – with a fancy glass bottle, which he opens and then pours in the appropriate glasses for them. He wishes them a nice stay, promising their food will be ready in a short while. To be honest, Zoro doesn’t care about the food.  
  
“I feel like congratulations are in order or something”, she smiles, raising her glass. “I’m very happy for you”.  
  
“Thank you, Robin”, he replies, joining her in the toast. “I’m very happy you decided to join me tonight. You look- _Uh_ , I mean… You’re- _I like your dress_ ”.  
  
He changes his mind multiple times, not sure how to convey that he finds her _breath-taking_ without resorting to the ero-cook’s vocabulary, but the results leave him a bit disappointed.  
  
She seems satisfied with his reply, though, because she smiles very sweetly at him before taking a sip from her flute of champagne.  
  
“I like your earrings”, she says, teasingly. “I do have one question, though”.  
  
“Go ahead”.  
  
“ _Why_ are we here?”

* * *

She just can’t help herself.  
  
“ _Why_ are we here?”  
  
Robin doesn’t believe in fairytales, not outside of books, so she wants to make sure they’re on the same page, because it’s not like her to just incautiously follow the wind.  
  
It’s true that she has never been on a _date_ before, but she has read and watched enough romantic comedies to recognize what a successful one looks like.  
  
She knows she won’t be able to let go unless he confirms this _thing_ between them doesn’t exist only in her head.  
  
So… why did he pick her of all people to celebrate his big achievement?  
  
In her mind, it just doesn’t make sense that someone ( _like him_ ) would be attracted by her.  
  
“Fine, you caught me. It’s not about the dress”, he jokes, “It’s you, I like _you_ …”  
  
It’s like a bucket of iced water is unloaded on her, because she freezes, with parted lips and her glass suspended mid-air. She eyes him curiously, surprised by the response.  
  
She may be the one who asked the question, but it’s Zoro who has ultimately opted for such a direct reply.  
  
It’s the first time, she thinks, kindergarten aside, that someone is so transparent with her: boys have tried to ask her out in the past, although based on their wish to hook up with her, but no one went about it so _manly_ before. It’s new, reassuring even – no expectations are being placed on her shoulders.  
  
If she wasn’t completely sure before, she is now: she likes him, too, perhaps a little more than she’s willing to admit just yet.  
  
She has dealt with perverts, with people who couldn’t take a no for an answer, with unrequited crushes, but this is different, unknown; what exactly is the protocol in the case of _mutual_ interest?  
  
“I- I really don’t know what to say…”

* * *

“…But I’m glad I am here with you tonight”.  
  
It’s his turn to stare up, mesmerized, filing away her admission as a victory.  
  
He’s grateful when their waiter returns, this time with their food, breaking the awkward silence that settles between them.  
  
Robin gasps lightly upon having her first mouthful. “ _Mh_! This place really lives up to its name”.  
  
He thinks about it, digging into his entrée as well.  
  
The Baratie is a beautiful place, with an amicable yet not overwhelming staff, a rich, ever-changing menu, one of the best selections of alcohol in the whole city and a loyal collection of wealthy customers who are more than willing to part with their belies to promote the work of one of the most acclaimed chefs in the New World, Zeff – only one thing is truly keeping the restaurant from perfection: they employ _curly-brow_.  
  
Jokes aside, everyone in the crew knows that Sanji wants to buy the place when his mentor eventually retires. He never runs out of reasons to badmouth him, but this is the one thing he actually _respects_ about the Vinsmoke prince.  
  
He wants to break free of the life his family is planning for him.  
  
“They know how to keep their customers satisfied. It used to be full of places like this, before most of the nightlife started to move near where you live…”, he recalls. “The majority of them closed or relocated, but the Baratie didn’t. It’s actually a pretty interesting story, the first two or three times the _ero-cook_ narrates it”.  
  
“Wait, am I supposed to listen after the first one?”, she jokes, leaning a little closer to him, chess pressed against the edge of the table. Zoro does his best to keep his eyes _up_ , focused on her face. “Seriously, though, what’s up with you and Sanji? He seems a perfectly nice guy…”  
  
He lets out a sigh. It’s not the first time someone insinuates their rivalry is childish, which partly it is, but he feels more ashamed now that it’s Robin who’s questioning his unfounded animosity for the chef.  
  
Not that he doesn’t reciprocate the sentiment tenfold, but Sanji is not the one whose credibility is on the line now, not the one who might, if he plays his cards the right way, get a goodnight kiss later tonight.  
  
“He _is_ a nice guy”, he admits, with some difficulty, after a while.  
  
“I won’t argue with that. I guess we’ve always been like this… It’s not that I _hate_ him, I just have an inexplicable urge to shut his mouth pretty much every damn time he opens it. That being said, I will still have his back if he needs it”.  
  
Now Zoro may not always, or _ever_ , see eye to eye with the blond prince, and there are definitely times he feels the sudden impulse to beat him into a bleeding pulp.  
  
 _Dart-brow_ is a menace, a lovestruck fool who’s willing to trade his dignity for each and every skirt that passes him by, but he’s also loyal to a fault – it’s looking after Nami that has dragged him into a feud with Eustass and his crew, after all, there’s no way the swordsman could ever blame him for that.  
  
He would have done the same if he found himself in his place.  
  
Sure, starting a fight with half of the Revolutionary Army so little before the beginning of the school tournament is not optimal, but it’s _their_ co-captain who couldn’t take a no from their friend. _Jeez_ , he thought all the drama was finally over when the couple broke up. Why can’t men like Kid learn to _fucking_ to let go?  
  
“With such premises, I’m sure nothing bad will ever happen to Cook-san”, she notes, staring straight into his eyes. “You do have this sort of… I don’t know, _aura_ _of safety_ about you”.  
  
Zoro’s not sure what it is that he did, but she looks much friendlier now, less stark and unattainable.  
  
She’s smiling more openly, drawing his attention to her dimples, and her posture, albeit still gracious, is that of someone who feels completely at ease with their surroundings.  
  
Considering how tense she was when they first entered the restaurant, it’s nice to see her so relaxed now.  
  
He almost – _almost_ – forgets confessing that he likes her, although that wasn’t nearly as dramatic as he expected. Robin didn’t leave, nor she is laughing at him. If anything, she’s putting a bit more nuance into her usual teasing now.  
  
It’s almost – _almost_ – like she’s flirting with him or something.  
  
Her lips play with the edge of her glass, tongue slowly darting out to pick up a leftover drop of champagne on the corner of her mouth. She doesn’t break their eye contact, so neither does he.  
  
He _couldn’t_ even if he wanted to, anyway.   
  
Zoro scratches the side of his neck, returning her smile.  
  
It only now occurs to him that he has barely touched his dinner so far, so he tries to focus on that instead. “ _Err_ , thank you, I suppose”, he says in between bites, the delicious food practically serenading in his mouth. “Some people weren’t, _uh_ , very welcoming last year when Chopper transferred to New Marineford. I don’t think people are supposed to be hurt at school”.

* * *

Robin agrees with him, but sadly people get hurt at school all the time.  
  
No one has ever tried to drown her, although that arguably happened outside of New Marineford, but she has been on the receiving end of enough sideway glances and tittle-tattle during her time at the Institute to know how bad it sucks.  
  
For all the prestige they like to flaunter, it seems they do a very poor job in ensuring the safety of their pupils.  
  
“Why did they go after him? He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who causes trouble…”, she trails off, hoping he’ll fill in the blanks for her.  
  
When people taunted her in Alabasta, at least, she had given them a reason or two not to like her, like associating with the same guy who later ended up trying to kidnap the princess; she can’t imagine Chopper doing anything even remotely similar to that.  
  
“For one, he’s _smart_. He wasn’t just allowed to transfer to our school, he was also allowed to skip two years. Since everyone else has to study real hard just so they are not kicked out... I guess some people were a bit jealous he got to fast-track on so many lanes. Personally, I never doubted his merits, but his mother also started teaching at New Marineford around the same time, so others felt the liberty to question his admission. The fact Professor Kureha is not very… _Umh_ , popular clearly didn’t help… They left him alone when he joined the crew, but even now, you can tell sometimes that he’s very self-conscious when he’s outside of our close circle”.  
  
She can’t say she didn’t notice.  
  
Aside from Bepo and a few others, she’s not sure she has ever seen Chopper willingly approach someone that isn’t a Straw-Hat.  
  
“Well, what can I say. These people are idiots”, she spats.  
  
Those seem like such frivolous reasons to be overtly mean to someone.  
  
People shouldn’t be hated for things that are out of their control – sure, she’s not a big fan of the biology professor either, but how does that have anything to do with her son? She’s afraid of what will happen to her the day someone stumbles on _her_ past.  
  
“Should I expect my locker to be the one they sully next? I transferred here, too. On senior year, no less”.  
  
“No one’s coming after you. Even if they tried, we wouldn’t let them…”, Zoro smirks. “… _I_ wouldn’t let them”.  
  
She returns his smile, tipping her glass at him. “And why is that?”  
  
“Isn’t that obvious? You’re part of the group, now… We care about you”.  
  
Robin giggles. “I was asking why you think no one would come after me. Am I special or something?”  
  
“Oh, _that_ – Well, you’re a girl… A _pretty_ one”, he pauses, not sure how to continue. _Hot_ would be a better descriptor here, but that sounds a bit too forward to say over oysters. “Trust me, people are going to be too busy inviting you to parties to go anywhere near your poor locker”.  
  
The rest of their dinner goes by rather pleasantly, accompanied by lighter topics.  
  
The girl enjoys herself immensely as she listens to Zoro detailing many of the adventures he has had with the rest of the group, getting a much neater picture of the strange bond they all seem to share, the same she hopes to be a part of someday.  
  
It’s quite hilarious to hear just how many things the Straw-Hats have been through together.  
  
Halfway through their second bottle of champagne, when the cranberry cake finally shows up, the swordsman is telling her about how he and Luffy became friends with Nami over ten years ago, and the realization that she is completely done for suddenly dawns on her.  
  
She can’t stop thinking of how _cute_ he must have been as a child.  
  
The green-haired boy is almost done with his dessert when she finally picks up a small portion of her cake with the fork and her taste buds are finally introduced to the recipe – Zoro was right, it does taste like heaven might.  
  
Her second bite is much larger, but she does her best to savor it.  
  
They have a bit of an argument when she offers to split the bill and he insists she lets him pay, but eventually she relents when he reminds her that he was technically gifted the dinner.  
  
“You can buy me lunch whenever you want, _you know_ ”, he jokes after handing the waiter the money. “I won’t tell you no”.  
  
He helps her standing up and offers her his arm once more, walking slowly at her side until they’re back at the entrance, where he excuses himself to retrieve both their coats.  
  
The girl responsible for the wardrobe, Camie, smiles brightly upon recognizing him.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Zoro! How are you?”  
  
She waves her hand energetically before reaching out for his ticket. She turns around to search for the appropriate bundle, handing him his suit’s jacket, but she pauses at the other garment, some sort of silky bolero that’s extremely soft to the touch.  
  
Camie has worked at the Baratie for years by now, she knows Zoro practically since he was a kid.  
  
It makes her feel old to think he’s here without the rest of his family tonight, but on his own… _no_ , not on his own, with a _date_.  
  
It seems like yesterday that she was a teenager herself and he a small little thing that hid behind Dracule Mihawk’s long, velvet-clad legs.  
  
“…Your date seems expensive”, she jokes, mocking him in the same way she would one of her little brothers. What will she do when _they_ start dating? “Have fun”.   
  
“Hey, Camie. It’s been some time”, he greets. “I am doing quite well, actually. I hope it's the same for you”.  
  
“Nothing changed around here”, she shrugs, her smile a bit tighter now. “Still trying to work enough money to get a bigger apartment and my brothers into decent schools, the usual”.  
  
“I wish you good luck”, Zoro deadpans, adding a generous tip to his wardrobe bill.  
  
She tries to refuse it, but he just shrugs her protests away and puts the banknotes directly in her hand.  
  
“I was going to drink that money, anyway. Tips are based on service, aren't they? And you returned me my things in less than a minute. Seen that I’m kind of in a rush, I really appreciate it”.  
  
“I thought you might like to hurry, especially if your date is the girl with the red dress. She looks, very… _Wow_ ”, Camie cuts herself off, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.  
  
“Unless Ichika-san is the one waiting for you?”  
  
She points at the old lady standing by the toilette, who glares back at them with a no-funky-business attitude which sends shivers down both their spines. They laugh it out, until Camie eventually puts the money in her pocket and thanks him.  
  
“Anyway, I hope you and your girl have a good time”.  
  
Zoro is about to smile and wave his hand at her, surprised by the fact she’s keeping her teasing at a minimum. It’s strangely out of character of her, then…  
  
“…Give her my number if you two don’t work out, though. Won’t you, _sweetheart_?”

* * *

After leaving the Baratie the two end up in the same spot Zoro showed her earlier, where they sit down on a bench to look down at the city beneath them. It’s incredible how different the sky looks there, stained by thousands of artificial lights, when compared to the uniform, dark expanse above their heads.  
  
She’s wearing his leather jacket again, and it’s not too cold outside, but she’s still snuggled up on his side, with her head leaning on his left shoulder as they stare up at the starry night.  
  
He moves slightly, so that he can sneak his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.  
  
Her instincts tell her it won’t be long before he makes his move, but he was quite friendly with the girl waiting on the wardrobe earlier, and she would lie if she said that she isn’t falling back into her old insecurities.   
  
Whilst it does seem a bit ridiculous for Zoro to be hitting on other girls whilst on a date with her, it’s not like she knows everything about him: maybe he’s one of those people who aren’t satisfied with just one partner, although if that was the case she would rather know and make an informed decision, maybe he’s just a _fuckboy_ , and what for her translates into a racing heart and butterflies it’s for him just an exotic _plus one_.  
  
“She told me to give you her number, you know?”, he asks her after a while, as he keeps on holding tight to her. His fingertips are playing over the palm of her hand, tracing every little line. “The girl at the closet, Camie… This dress of yours keeps turning heads, it seems”.  
  
“Is she a friend of yours?”  
  
Presented with such a perfect opportunity, Robin can’t stop herself from asking. It’s only an innocent question, after all – she would feel much better if he could just confirm there’s not a girl whose shoes she might be stepping on… She can’t get enough of his scent, she notes, absent-mindedly, as her nose sinks deeper into the soft cotton of crisp white shirt. He just smells too good.  
  
“Who, Camie? I guess you could say that”, Zoro shrugs. “She’s been working at the Baratie since she was our age, and that’s pretty much the only restaurant my father approves of, so she was around for a lot of birthdays and such… She’s much closer to Perona, though, since they’re closer in age”.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_ , I see”, she hums, feeling much better now. “So, about that number…”  
  
Leaving the protective warmth of his embrace is completely worth it when she pulls away and sees the look on his face. Zoro seems genuinely upset, like he doesn’t believe his ears.  
  
“You… You want it?”  
  
His lips are curled down in an adorable pout, black eyes staring longingly at her as she laughs and cups his cheeks in her hand.  
  
Robin doesn’t know where the impulse has come from, but her gesture freezes him in place, giving her opportunity to better study his face.  
  
It's elongated, with chiseled features, a thin nose.  
  
There’s a hint of red on his cheeks and the tip of his ears, but he continues to look at her with puppy eyes, head tilted lightly on the side, earrings shining under the moonlight.  
  
They release tiny puffs of white smoke as they breathe, but she doesn’t feel cold anymore. No, all she can sense is the strange need that’s bubbling in the pit of her stomach… _  
  
_“I think I will pass”, she mouths, careful to articulate every word very slowly. Maybe it’s the champagne that’s talking for her, and she’ll probably regret this in the morning, but she can’t remember the last time she felt this… _adventurous_.  
  
The fact Zoro still has his arm wrapped around her waist, where his hand sometimes squeezes her hip sending blissful jolts of pleasure and excitement down her spine, doesn’t help her case.  
  
It's been quite some time since she has last felt so little control over actions, but she knows, deep down, that it has nothing to do with the alcohol. She arguably drank most of it, since Zoro is the one driving, but she knows what strong inebriation is like and this doesn’t meet her expectations. Sure, she’s a little more light-headed, _giddy_ even, than usual, but that’s about it: she’s still the sole master of her thoughts.  
  
Robin is aware of her body moving, inching closer to the swordsman's, she just can’t find in herself enough willpower to stop it.  
  
She doesn’t want to – whiffs of his heady, musky cologne hit her sense of scent in regular lapses, luring her in, and the light stubble that’s about to sprout on his face tickles her fingertips. He sits completely still, eyes trained on her lips, and it doesn’t take major deductive skills, albeit hers are egregious, to figure out what his intentions are now…  
  
The hand that was previously cupping his cheeks is now stroking gently one side of his face, forcing him to look up once again. The smile is slightly crooked on Zoro’s mouth, like an unspoken question, his neck comfortably stretched back as she keeps rubbing her fingertips over his skin in small circles.  
  
His left hand starts mirroring the gesture on the small of her back, although his movements are slower, wider, and goosebumps are spreading all over her body. Robin’s not sure why she’s still fighting it at this point.  
  
In just a couple of hours the worse day in a horrible week has been turned upside down, putting her in the greatest mood since, _well_ , a very long time. She knows she’ll feel great if she does it, so why _isn’t_ she?   
  
What is she still afraid of?  
  
Probably just that she’ll like it _too much_ , considering she can’t stop smiling stupidly at him. The boy she likes has asked her out for dinner, they had a nice time together and now they are sitting alone, in a very romantic setting… Robin knows how this is supposed to end, how she wants it to end, but she’s genetically engineered to avoid taking risks and a small part of her still thinks something bad will happen, _eventually_ , ruining the entire night and her entire relationship with Zoro.  
  
Koala’s words glare at her from the back of her mind. _It doesn’t have to go any further than that, if it’s not what you want_. The only problem is, she does want to run a thousand miles per hour with him.  
  
 _Think, Robin, think_ – she urges mentally. She lets her hand drop to the side, gathering up her courage, but he's swift in bringing up his free arm. She almost chokes on her surprise when he starts tracing the contours of her face with one calloused finger, but nothing compares to the hundreds of nerves which all hum in unison as his thumb brushes against her lower lip.  
  
Well, _fuck_ this…  
  
There’s only so much self-inflicted torture someone can endure.  
  
He looks and smells too inviting, but her attraction runs deeper than simple hormones. If it was merely a matter of lust, she doesn’t think it would take her nearly as long to make her move – no, it’s something else: it's the absolute elation she experiences when he’s around, the wry curve of his smile, that ripped, sculpted chest of his… a combination of all that, plus the fact he makes her feel like happiness is within her reach.  
  
She has never had something quite like this, so perhaps that’s why she’s scared to lose it before she even tastes it. If there is one thing the Straw-Hats are teaching her, however, is that it’s okay for one to dream and desire things for themselves.   
  
Robin keeps her eyes open as she covers the distance between their faces, wrapping both arms around his neck. Something tells her he could very easily get away from her if he wishes to do so, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, because he takes her gesture a sign to close his own eyes and wait.  
  
The first thing she notices, upon pressing her mouth on his in a butterfly kiss, it’s that Zoro’s lips are very soft to the touch, and _warm_ – so warm, in fact, that they might as well be _burning_ as they start moving slowly against hers.  
  
The hand on her back urges her forward, closer to him, while the other settles on the back of her neck, grabbing a gentle fistful of her long hair. With a sigh, she lets her eyelids droop as well.  
  
It’s a bit as if magical rainbows are currently exploding in her mind – he kisses her somewhat gently, albeit with a hunger that matches her own; he nibs on her lower lip, tongue hastily darting out to soothe the injured spot, drawing her closer and closer… her brain completely disconnects by this point, as she parts her mouth and slowly brushes her tongue against his, but she somehow ends up sitting on his lap, with her legs on his sides. Both her hands pull at his green hair until one descends, trailing down his chest. It feels just as… _sturdy_ as she expected, but she still marvels at the contact.  
  
She’s very unwilling to let him go, but eventually they both succumb to their need for oxygen, so they break off the kiss. He’s still embracing her very tightly, however, and he doesn’t let go of her hair.  
  
Zoro simply stares at her with a stupidly handsome grin on his face, so it’s only a matter of seconds before she dives right back in and resumes their previous activity. He’s just as sweet as the cranberry cake he loves so much, sweeter even, so making out is pretty much all they do for the rest of their date.  
  
It’s not like they don’t try to talk more in those two hours, because they do, but it’s hard to focus on his words if he’s simultaneously leaving a trail of wet kisses down her neck, holding her so tightly she can feel his heart beating on her chest. Something… _hard_ pokes her inner-thigh, but it doesn’t bother her; while she doesn’t plan to get acquainted with his, _uh_ , _fourth sword_ on a public bench, it’s still nice to know she’s not the only one whose body is being affected by their present occupation.  
  
Besides, it’s not like Robin can really blame him for getting aroused when _she_ is the one who started to grind on him.  
  
They ride back to her apartment a little before midnight. The temperature has dropped several degrees, but her face – and, well, anything else – still feels quite _hot_.  
  
Zoro parks his motorcycle next to hers once more, staring appreciatively at her vehicle of choice until she disembarks the bike and he can do the same.  
  
Robin returns him the helmet with a bright smile and he puts it back in the under-seat before removing his own as well, hanging it on the throttle.  
  
She fidgets hesitantly with the jacket, knowing she’ll start freezing the moment she takes it off, but eventually she concludes that Zoro needs it more, as he’s the one with still half the city to drive through.  
  
“I had a great time”, she admits, shyly, handing him the leather garment. “Thank you for the dinner and, _umh_ , your company. It was a lot of fun”.  
  
The girl tries to plant a kiss on his cheek, a bit tethered now by the icy breeze that’s slowly seeping into her bones, but he won’t have it: using his jacket as a rope, he circles her back with it and pulls her forward.  
  
She finds herself entangled in a pair of strong arms again as Zoro kisses her one more time, leisurely, restoring the fire he set out earlier in her chest. She stares numbly at him when he steps back, confused by all the sudden, different urges and stimuli which she’s feeling all at once; her strange daze only increases when one of his hands reaches out to fix her bangs and then, only when he’s satisfied with his work, he leans forward and kisses her on the cheek.  
  
“ _Yeah_ , that was fun. But really, it’s _me_ who should be thanking you…”, he whispers sinfully on her ear, but then he hesitates, pausing as a blush spreads on his cheeks.  
  
If that’s possible, she’s even more attracted to him now.  
  
“Would you, _uh_ – _Maybe_ we can do this again sometime next week”.   
  
Robin giggles, finding his embarrassment very endearing. “I’d _love_ to, Swordsman-san”.   
  
“So, I’ll be on my way then”, he grins, returning to his motorcycle and wearing the helmet back on.  
  
“Goodnight, Robin”.  
  
 _Sweet dreams_.

* * *

* * *

> **13** : **05** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace  
> _  
>  **13** : **06** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace_  
>  _Ace  
>   
> _ **13** : **06** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _‘sup, koala?_ 😅  
>   
>  **13** : **06** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _I need your help_  
>  _Consider it my birthday gift_  
>   
>  **13** : **07** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _go on, I’m intrigued now…_  
>   
>  **13** : **07** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _Could you ask your little brother to come to my party later and bring some of his friends?_  
>   
>  **13** : **07** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _wow_  
>  _that’s not what I was expecting_  
>  _AT ALL_  
>   
>  **13** : **08** \- @ **firefist**  
>  … _why?_  
>   
>  **13** : **09** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _One of my guests just moved into town_.  
>  _She’s about their age, whilst none of my other guests is_.   
> _It’s not a problem if they’re not available, just thought I would ask._  
>   
>  **13** : **10** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _I’ll see what I can do_  
>  _no promises, though_   
> _…and I’m not buying you a gift if they say no  
>   
> _ **13** : **11** \- @ **koalaflower**  
>  _I’ll buy you one if they say yes_.   
>   
> **13** : **12** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _deal_ 💖

* * *

* * *

The room is quiet, silence broken only by the sound made by the cutlery in their hands, but this is to be expected when one sits these three individuals at the same table: Donquixote Rosinante is not a man of many words, not in front of a delicious meal, while his brother Doflamingo simply doesn’t like to engage in small talk and prefers to spend the family dinner on his phone, leaving the table many times to reply to calls; his nephew, Law, doesn’t really appreciate the blatant disrespect shown to his father in their own home, but he is forced to stay in his place and remain silent, and for a wide variety of reasons.  
  
First and foremost, Corazon looks up to his older brother tremendously.  
  
For someone who has built their entire reputation on their better sense of judgement, he’s simultaneously deaf, mute and blind when it comes to him: it’s like there is literally no line that can be crossed when it comes to Doflamingo, because one was never traced, it’s like he can do no wrong.  
  
If he dared speaking up, his father would probably scold him and ask him to show more respect to his uncle.  
  
 _What a load of bullshit_.   
  
In all honesty, the man doesn’t have a single redeeming quality.  
  
He’s always belittling his younger sibling, or really, anyone that isn’t himself, looking down on everyone but a selected few – his family, of course, is not included.  
  
Law never liked him, but, luckily, he spends very little time with the man.   
  
It’s not like the infamous music producer would show up unless he needs something, usually the signature of someone respectable, like Rosinante, on shady documents which then disappear every single _fucking_ time.  
  
But _hey, no_ , absolutely nothing strange going on with the self-important _and_ self-deluded asshole sitting in the chair opposite from his, apart from the fact he’s here tonight not to spend some time with his little brother, but rather to _pressure_ his nephew.  
  
It turns out he’s the person his supplier works for, the one they call _Joker_.  
  
“Do tell me again, Trafalgar- _kun_ ”, he trails off, lingering on the honorific because he knows that it will piss him off. “How come such a young and handsome man like yourself spends his Sunday night at home with his father…”  
  
Rosinante replies before he has the chance to. “Can you believe I had to ground him?”, he asks, jovially, although his smile turns into a glare the moment his eyes set on his son.  
  
“Kids these days! We wouldn’t have dared using such uncouth language, either at school or outside…”  
  
His rant is cut off by the phone ringing in his studio, Law recognizes the tune of his private line, so the man excuses himself to answer, muttering something about a crucial report he has been waiting for, and leaves the other two alone in the kitchen.  
  
The atmosphere changes dramatically.  
  
“Law, Law, Law”, Doflamingo snickers. “Really? You got yourself caught for _bad words_?”  
  
There’s a hint of amusement in his eyes, but it’s just a tiny smidge; more than everything, he seems disappointed, looking at his nephew as if he’s just a tiny, insignificant worm.  
  
When no answer is uttered, steely, grey orbs narrow at him.   
  
“I assumed Diamante made himself clear the last time you didn’t meet your _quota_ ”, the blond insinuates, sending a shiver down Law’s spine.  
  
He’s referring to the little surprise he staged for him during the first week of school, the one he luckily didn’t have to justify to his father because his black eye disappeared before he returned from Mary Geoise.  
  
“Do I need to ask him to refresh your memory?”  
  
The dark-haired boy is taken a little aback. He was expecting him to at least _try_ to hide the fact he has paid someone to beat up his teenaged nephew and he admits it openly instead. _Sick bastard_.  
  
There’s only so much a single person can do against a trained assassin.  
  
Even though he has managed to deal a couple of blows himself and he’s stronger than most people his age, he was still the one who lied on the floor in the end, covered in his own blood, dialing Bepo’s number with quivering fingers and hoping he remembered what he taught him about first aid.  
  
“No, _sir_ ”, Law says, a low hiss that’s filled with venom. “Dad leaves tomorrow. You’ll have your money before the end of next week”.  
  
“All the money”, Doflamingo presses. “This week’s money and last week’s money, or else…”  
  
He doesn’t need to complete his threat, because a shuffling of feet echoes into the dining room, followed by the sound of Rosinante crashing helplessly against the furniture.  
  
“All the money”, Law repeats, and luckily it’s enough to shut him up.  
  
“ _Ah_ , I’m sorry, gentlemen, I really had to answer that call”, the judge returns to the room, holding an expensive bottle of sake in his hands.  
  
“I was saving this for a special occasion, but what’s more special than all three of us spending some quality time together?”, he muses, stumbling on the rug as he looks for the bottle opener and almost dropping the sake to the ground. “How long has it been?”  
  
Law really can’t join his father in his enthusiasm. _Years_ – he would like to say – _but it’ll never be enough_.  
  
His uncle seems to intercept his thoughts. “Heard your father, Traffy- _kun_?” Law fantasizes about stabbing him with the dessert knife. “If you didn’t get yourself in trouble, we could have missed all of this…”  
  
Rosinante, of course, is helplessly oblivious to the sarcasm in his voice.  
  
Law now fantasizes about stabbing _himself_ with the same dessert knife.  
  
The man’s lies are making him nauseous and so is the thought that he’ll be tied to him for many months to come unless he comes up with some sort of plan soon.  
  
“So, I’d like to make a toast…”  
  
His father’s voice is somewhat comforting despite the battle that’s raging within him.  
  
He has been home for only five days, most of which he spent locked up in his private studio to work, but it’s still regrettable that their last meal together has been ruined by Doflamingo’s presence, especially since his flight is scheduled very early in the morning, so these are literally the last moments he can spend with him before Kami knows when.  
  
His uncle seems to notice that, because he does his best to overstay his welcome, walking out of the door long after midnight, when Rosinante is already exhausted. He hugs his son and rushes straight to bed as soon as the door is closed behind him.  
  
Law, who’s tidying up the dining room, smacks his fist on the table as his uncle’s laugh reverberates in from outside.  
  
He curses loudly as his hand connects to the surface and he’s reminded that it’s made of stone.  
  
The bright side is… It seems there’s another injury his father won’t be around to ask him questions about.  
  
 _Fuck his life_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, we're finally there. THEY KISSED. 💖  
> I'm happy to tell you that is just how their story begins, and I hope you'll enjoy what comes next.  
> Have a lovely day and do let me know what you think of this chapter! 
> 
> p.s. a massive thanks to the lovely @aspiringtrashpanda (you can read her beautiful story [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27940316/chapters/68425751)) for all the help and support she's providing. This chapter is dedicated to you because you're the best! 🦝
> 
> p.p.s. you can find the characters' playlists at [this link](https://hiraethwrites.tumblr.com/ssor-music) if you want to check them out!


	13. Never Be Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Koala serves birthday cake and Sabo practically chokes on it, whilst Luffy has a startling discovery on social media and the match-ups for the first round of New Marineford's tournament are finally revealed.

“… Hey, you, _mademoiselle_ ** _~_**!  
_Happy birthday_!”  
  
Koala has never been much of a socialite, so she’s a bit surprised at how many people have showed up to her party.  
  
She knows that more than half of them don’t really care about celebrating her special day and that the only reason they’re here is that rumor spread around campus that there would be a lot of alcohol, although she still has no idea who started it.  
  
Not that it matters. She’s too drunk right now to play detective.  
  
“Thank you, blondie- _chan_!”, she shouts in reply, waving enthusiastically at the grinning stranger.  
  
Her own smile withers down as he stares a bit too intently at her chest, however, so she’s very grateful when a girl with orange hair drags him away by the neck of his shirt.  
  
“I’m so sick of you, Sanji-kun!”, she chastises him with an angry voice, although she doesn’t deny him her support when he drunkenly wobbles on his feet. She propels him in the direction of the kitchen. “…I can’t believe you… ––––– _PIG_! … for _fuck_ ’s sake, Sanji-kun, calm down…”  
  
Any other day of the year and the birthday girl would take the time to fetch this girl and tell her that it’s not worth it, that caring for foolish boys will only lead her to despair, but today it’s her day, and she’d rather use it to engage in more productive activities… like _beer-pong_.   
  
Koala tries to make it back to the living room, hustling her way through the dancing guests, when a familiar voice booms somewhere on her back and she finds herself unable to move.  
  
It’s Ace. When did Ace arrive?  
  
If Ace is here, then so is _Sabo_ …  
  
The only reason the latter has been invited is that the former, if she didn’t, would have likely asked her why, but she still has the right to avoid him for the whole night and that’s _exactly_ what she plans on doing.  
  
“There she is”, Ace whispers in her ear, lifting her off the floor by putting two large hands on her waist.  
  
He spins her around in circles, wishing her a happy birthday, then puts her back on solid ground. The edges of objects around her have just gotten blurrier.  
  
“I’m sorry we’re late, but we picked up people pretty much all over town…”  
  
He gestures behind him with a smile, indicating the two boys who are currently standing next to her blond-haired nightmare.  
  
Sabo smiles sheepishly at her, but she ignores him.  
  
“You’ve met Luffy already”, Ace points at the one with raven hair, who smiles brightly at her. “This is one of his best friends, Zoro, while the other two have gone missing in the transition from the dancefloor to the patio outside, I’m afraid. Where have you been? We were looking for you…”  
  
I was hiding, avoiding _you_ , in particular – but she doesn’t say it.  
  
“It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Koala”, it’s what she says instead, offering her hand to the tall guy with green hair, the only one she has never seen before.  
  
“Zoro”, he mumbles, shaking her hand. “Happy birthday”, he adds, but she can’t tell whether it’s out of obligation or not. He doesn’t seem nearly as comfortable as his mate about attending a stranger’s party.  
  
She thanks him politely before returning her attention back to Ace.  
  
“ _Oh_ , I was here and there, _you know_ ”, she improvises, quite sure the vodka she had earlier is adding a slur to her words. “It’s my birthday, after all! What do your other friends look like?”  
  
“The guy has blond hair and a white shirt…”, Luffy chimes in, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “… _Oh_ , he also bleeds from the nose sometimes! Nami’s hair is orange instead. She’s tiny, but she can really pack up a punch”.  
  
“Agreed”, Ace, Sabo and Zoro echo.  
  
The blond only now makes his move, advancing towards her with his arms raised. Ace is looking at the exchange with mild interest, but he would instantly notice that something is wrong if she ducks away and refuses to accept his birthday wishes.  
  
Only an _asshole_ would do that.  
  
With a quiet whimper, Koala stiffly returns Sabo’s hug, patting awkwardly on his shoulder until he finally gets a clue and takes a step away from her. He doesn’t seem to understand what the words _I’m-breaking-up-with-you_ really mean, considering he has tried to discreetly sneak a hand down to squeeze her ass.   
  
“I think I know where your friends are”, she says to the small group. “There was a very pretty girl with orange hair that was woman-handling a guy that fits your description pretty badly… Not that he didn’t deserve it”.  
  
“Yeah, that’s Nami”, Luffy nods. “…And the pervert-cook”, adds Zoro.  
  
They high-five.  
  
She blinks, “Come with me”.  
  
Koala escorts the four to her kitchen, where they find the strange pair from before sitting at the counter, the girl urging the boy to drink the glass of water she has poured for him.  
  
“Is it them?”  
  
“ _Oi_ , Nami! Sanji! Is everything okay?”  
  
“Luffy!”, she turns around abruptly, whilst her companion keeps uttering sloshed, incoherent syllables. “We are fine, but Sanji-kun decided to challenge some university guys in a drinking contest after we lost sight of you and, _well_ , you know how he gets when he drinks… He tried to hit on a poor girl on our way here, but I dragged him away before he could cause too much damage”.  
  
“No damage, I promise”, Koala chimes in. “I’m the poor girl. I won’t deny it was a bit uncomfortable, but at least I know why he looked so… _weird_. You should take him to the patio outside, he seems like he could really use a breath of fresh air”.  
  
“Thank you. I’m really, really sorry”, Nami apologizes. “Name's Nami, by the way”.  
  
“Koala”.  
  
“Where’s the patio?”  
  
Two things happen simultaneously, killing the words on the tip of her tongue.  
  
“ _Robin_?”  
  
“Koala, can I talk to you? Please?”

* * *

Zoro turns around instinctively upon hearing her name.  
  
Whilst she did write in the group-chat that she couldn’t go out tonight because of a friend’s birthday, Grand Line City is a big place, so he refused to entertain the thought that they could end up attending the same party.  
  
That kind of luck doesn’t exist… or does it? It is Robin the one who’s standing by the door when he follows Nami’s eyes. She seems very surprised to see them, but happy, nonetheless.  
  
“ _Guys_? What are you doing here?”  
  
She hugs all of them, including Luffy’s brothers, lingering a bit longer when it’s the swordsman’s turn, planting a small kiss on the side of his neck before she pulls away and returns to Koala’s side.  
  
“Ace said there would be loads of food”, the captain pipes up, with a bit of a wistful expression. “So far, however, I have to admit that I didn’t see much…”  
  
Robin laughs, a dainty, tantalizing sound that brings the clock twenty-four hours back. By this time of night, he notes, they were already seated on the bench yesterday.  
  
He has sent her a text in the morning, but only to wish her a good day; the last thing he wants is to be _that_ guy and get clingy after one date, but it seems nothing short of fate that they’re in the same house tonight, apparently celebrating the birth of the same person.  
  
He only said yes to Luffy’s strange request for lack of better things to do, but now he’s glad that he did.  
  
The last addition to their class wears a black little thing that snuggles tightly to her body, so tight, in fact, that he wonders under which laws of physics the satiny fabric doesn’t rip as it holds up all of her… female curves.  
  
The dress is supported only by the thin straps which crisscross around her shoulders and back, and, overall, combined with the messy bun sitting on top of her head and the crimson, dark shade on her lips, she might just be one of the _prettiest_ things he has ever laid eyes on.  
  
“We moved the food outside when people started dancing”, she tells Luffy, returning the joyful smile he shows when he discovers that he can, after all, eat. “I can show you, if you want. Sanji looks…”  
  
She doesn’t finish her sentence, either because she’s too nice or too polite, but Zoro has no such qualms, so he concludes, “… _Pathetic_ , as per usual”.  
  
“ _Oi_ , _m-wha-ri-mo_!”  
  
“It’s okay, Sanji-kun…”, Nami returns to his side and pats a hand on his back. “Let’s go”.  
  
She helps her blond friend stand up, a bit unstable on her high heels, but Luffy quickly joins in, placing Sanji’s other arm around his neck and supporting most of his weight.  
  
Zoro follows them, and so starts to do Robin, when Koala speaks up again, “Let me help you, guys. The perimeter around the pool is quite slippery”.  
  
“No need”, the dark-haired girl smiles at her friend. “I got this. You go on and enjoy your birthday”.  
  
That seems to convince the older woman, because she relents, turning back to Luffy’s brothers, who are quietly, and _awkwardly_ , watching the scene from near the fridge, where they have helped themselves to some beer.  
  
Robin shuffles her feet in his direction, with her usual grace. He can now look at her for longer, more closely, and he notices two things in this order: there’s a small, red spot on the left side of her neck, just a couple inches beneath the ear, which brings a sudden smirk to his face, and, judging from the misty shine in her eyes and the unusual lightheaded-ness she displays, she has had _at least_ a couple of drinks.  
  
“…Did _he_ show up in the end?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“…The _asshole_ ”.  
  
_Yup_ , whatever she had, she’s not sober. He has met her only recently, true, but he has been around her enough to know that she usually circles around things, she’s always very careful not to let her personal judgement of people slip unless she’s really upset. She doesn’t seem upset now, so what’s up?  
  
Zoro looks up, curiously. The birthday girl is showing a very fake smile.  
  
“Unfortunately, _yes_ ”, she seems to be adding something else, but Robin cuts her off.  
  
“Well, feel free to call me if he tries anything. I’ll be happy to show him the door for you”, she says. “You shouldn’t spend your birthday arguing with someone who leaves you out in the rain–”  
  
“ _Enough_ ”, Koala chides her, red-faced, albeit she’s not much sober and therefore not too concerned with their audience. “Everything will be fine. Make sure you stick around for cake”.  
  
“Who’s the _dick_?”, chimes in Ace, with an expression of disbelief. “…I’m killing that bastard”.  
  
Zoro misses the conversation that follows, but he doesn’t complain.  
  
Robin grabs him by the wrist, urging him to where the others are waiting for them by the door.  
  
She leaves his side to accomplish the goal, taking the head of their small group, but finally all five of them move outside, where they lay Sanji down on a poolside chair, their captain immediately walking off on his own in his search for food.  
  
Nami sits down next to Sanji, glaring at the catatonic prince, whilst the remaining two Straw-Hats just idly stand by, alternating glances between each other and their orange-haired friend to make sure they are not caught in the act.  
  
Then, Robin says, “Want to look for some sake, Swordsman-san? I left my jacket inside”.  
  
To enhance her words, she rubs her hands on her shoulders, but, _honestly_ , she doesn’t need to.  
  
He would follow her anywhere if she asks him like that… well, if _she_ asks him, period.   
  
“ _Ne_ , Robin”, Nami calls out. “Get sake for me, too, _please_ ”.  
  
Zoro releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding; for a moment, there, it seemed like the girl somehow knows their small secret.  
  
He can’t begin to imagine how much blackmail that type of knowledge would warrant in her hands, but he shudders at the thought.  
  
“Sure”, unlike him, Robin seems unfazed, tugging at his shirt to point him in the right direction.  
  
“We’ll be back soon with all the sake you want…”, she pauses when Sanji asks her to get him some as well, but he’s promptly knocked out again by Nami’s fist connecting with his skull. “…Wait here”.  
  
Zoro follows her silently, glaring back once at the duo sitting on the lounge chair. He can’t tell for sure, but the light reflects for a moment on Nami’s face in a way that make it seem like she’s… _smirking_.  
  
She’s looking at her phone now, however, and she doesn’t say anything, no taunt or crude remark, so eventually he relaxes, focusing on the girl walking next to him.  
  
People’s presence lessens and lessens the more they stride, reaching the front garden. He’s a little surprised by the path they have taken, going through the dancefloor was probably faster since it’s unlikely that she left her jacket outside, but he doesn’t mind the small detour.  
  
It gives him the opportunity to sneak one arm around her shoulders and pull her to his chest, after all. This hug is nicer than the one she gave him earlier, when the others’ presence mandated their contact was brief.  
  
Her hair smells very good, a mixture of cinnamon and something else he can’t pinpoint, but her arms and collarbone area, which are left exposed by the dress, feel very cold against his skin, even with his shirt acting as a barrier between them.  
  
Robin doesn’t seem bothered, though, and returns the hug.  
  
Barely a minute passes before he draws their faces together, and they start kissing next to the gardener’s hut. Zoro is pinning her to the wall, albeit gently, one arm between the girl’s back and the concrete, so she doesn’t scratch herself.  
  
Both her hands are busy exploring the tight muscles on his shoulders and chest, while his free hand is firmly placed on her hip.  
  
He’s about to give in to temptation and lower one hand to get a squeeze of her very delectable backside, see if she minds it, when her fingers dig into his right cheek and Robin claims for herself a handful of his ass.  
  
She seems pleased with her discovery, because her kiss becomes a little more voracious, but just as he’s about to mirror her and cop a feel for himself…  
  
“…I can’t keep up with this anymore”, laments a female voice as two sets of feet approach the dark corner in which they’re hiding.  
  
They pull apart with a grimace, hoping the newcomers won’t get any closer than that.  
  
The green-haired swordsman thinks he knows the person who just talked, however, and this belief is confirmed when she speaks up again, “We’ve already talked about this, what’s changed now? You ask me what I want, I tell you and then you don’t give it to me… Which is fine, _really_ , but please, _please_ , stop wasting my time like this. There’s other things I’d rather do on my _fucking_ birthday”.  
  
The man with her lets out a loud sigh. “Koala, I’m sorry…”  
  
Zoro cannot believe his ears. This is a voice he can definitely recognize.  
  
This is…  
  
“…I should have handled things better, but I panicked and…”  
  
… _Sabo._

* * *

“I don’t want to hear it, Sabo”, she holds her hand up, practically spatting his name.  
  
It hurts that Koala is looking at him with such hate in her eyes, but he has been trying to get her alone for two weeks, so he won’t leave until he has had the chance to say his piece.  
  
“ _This_ ”, she gestures between them, her voice cracking up a little, but she shows him her fake smile once again, seemingly unperturbed.  
  
“This is not working”.  
  
“But we can make it work”, he tries, weakly. “I can tell my brother we’re studying together for an exam or something, that way he won’t get suspicious if he sees you around the house…”  
  
He cuts himself off, knowing by her glare that he has just made things between them a thousand times worse, because it feels like a _slap_.  
  
Sabo can’t remember a single instance in which she has looked so indignant, offended, as ready to rip someone’s head off as she does now.  
  
_Holy fucking hell_.  
  
“ _Oh. My. God_. I can’t believe you’re so _dense_ ”, Koala yelps, fidgeting with the top hem of her strapless dress.  
  
It doesn’t seem to provide the support her, _emh_ , chest clearly needs, but he knows that he’ll get slapped for real if he lets his eyes linger there during an argument. “Go find someone else to _use_ to get over Betty with, understood? I’m starting to see why she turned her attention to Karasu…”  
  
Now, that may just be his problem, the reason he wasn’t capable to patch things up with her over the past two weeks. Sabo never, not once believed her when she said they were _over_.  
  
Until now, he labelled an argument what the woman obviously considers a breakup.  
  
The realization is sudden and painful.  
  
He knows her last remark is only dictated by anger, and the booze, but it still hits a sore spot.  
  
If she’s so dismissive of his feelings, of the insecurity that blossomed within him when he got cheated on, then maybe she isn’t as different from his ex as he thought she was.  
  
“ _Fuck_ you”, he hisses. “Fuck you and fuck Betty”.   
  
“No, Sabo”, she corrects him.  
  
Her lower lip trembles a little, but he doesn’t put his arms around her like usual to comfort her.  
  
He realizes, numbly, that this time he has gone too far.  
  
“ _Fuck_ you”.

* * *

Nami is still sitting on the lounge chair when Robin and Zoro return, but Sanji is feeling a lot better now, so the two are chatting with their heads unusually close, or rather the blond is apologizing profusely for his earlier behavior and forcing the girl to take care of him, whilst Nami is listing the hundred and more ways he can make it up to her starting tomorrow.  
  
“… _Finally_ , my sake”, she claps her hands together as she spots a familiar flash of green hair.  
  
Luffy is still by the buffet, stuffing his mouth with cake, but she was expecting the other two to be back a long time ago, so she can’t help herself, and smiles wryly at them, asking, “What took you so long?”  
  
She does her best to pretend she doesn’t notice it, but she relishes in the expression of utter dread that appears on Zoro’s face. This is going to make her quite a few thousand belies if she plays it right.  
  
Robin seems much more composed, despite her inebriated state. “The house is packed, so it was a little difficult to locate the alcohol at first”, she explains, dangling a bottle in front of her nose. Nami now notices the small cups the swordsman holds in one of his hands. “There should be more than enough”.  
  
The other pretends to be satisfied with her reply, patting the empty spot next to her on the chair.  
  
Now that Sanji and his long legs are not lying down, it easily fits three people or more.  
  
Zoro empties the poolside table next to it of its contents and sits on that.  
  
“Thank you, Robin- _chan_ ”, Nami hums, eyeing the sake appreciatively. “Where’s your jacket?”  
  
Robin’s poker-face doesn’t slip, but the blush on her cheeks is quite… _interesting_.  
  
“I thought I left it by the fireplace, but by the time we got there it was gone. Someone must have moved it”, she suggests, attempting a smile. “I’ll ask Koala about it before I leave”.  
  
“Ro- _b’n_ -ch _w_ an”, Sanji pipes up. “I want you to know that I sincerely apologize for the way I embarrassed myself earlier. I hope you’ll find it in your sweet heart to forgive me…”  
  
“…Only some are more embarrassing than others, _dart-brow_ ”.  
  
She cocks an eyebrow at him. “Bold of you to assume I have a sweet heart”, she smiles, morbidly. “Don’t worry, everyone has a skeleton or two in the closet for things they have done when they were drunk”.  
  
“Speaking of which”, Nami chimes in. “I couldn’t help but notice you’re a little… _higher_ than usual”.  
  
As the person who usually pesters her to drink when they hang out, she’s a bit curious to know what’s different about tonight. She never goes beyond half a glass, two in special occasions – trust her, she counted them.  
  
It’s the first time she sees Robin stumbling over her words, losing that halo of perfect, algid grace that usually surrounds her. She’s not clumsy by any means, but it’s clear she’s a little… unbalanced.  
  
“ _Oh_ , that?”, Robin giggles, light-heartedly, as if a huge weight has been lifted off her chest. “Uh, Koala dared me to try the new bong some guys from the chemistry department made for her, so… I’m afraid half these people will need a liver transplant before they even finish university, but it’s practically impossible to say no if they want you to drink. Or smoke”.  
  
Looking around at the people half-conscient everywhere, Nami can see where the thought has generated from, but it’s still a bit too crude for her taste. Her new friend has a strange sense of humor.  
  
“What matters is that you’re drinking with us now”, she changes the subject, urging Zoro to handle her the cups.  
  
“I’ve already broken all my rules this weekend, so _why not_ ”, Robin retorts, slyly.  
  
The orange-haired girl is about to poke her for more detail, but Luffy returning and sitting next to the swordsman distracts her from it.  
  
“Hey, everyone”, he grins. Unsurprisingly, the only thing he has bothered to consume is the buffet. Luffy rarely drinks. “My brother just texted me. He’s leaving early, so I need to go with him if I want the ride home…”, he scratches the back of his head, uncertainly.  
  
Since they all came here with the same car, Sabo’s, it’s clear he wants to know if they want to leave now as well.  
  
“Drive safely”, Nami smiles at the captain, “We never meant to get into a car with your drunk brothers, anyway. I’ll just call a cab later”.  
  
He nods.  
  
“Well, then, I’ll see you all tomorrow at school”, he declares, clapping a hand on Zoro’s shoulder. “They are not drunk, by the way… Well, Ace’s shirt was on fire and he jumped into the pool earlier, but I don’t think he was drunk”.  
  
“Wait, Ace jumped into the pool? How could we miss it?”, Nami turns around, browsing the pool, but there’s no one inside of it now.  
  
“I waved at you, but you were talking to Sanji and you didn’t see me”, Luffy shrugs before finally standing up, hugging each of his friends before he starts to make his way back, picking up his phone and answering a call as he disappears inside the house.  
  
“Bye!”  
  
“…And he’s gone. _Again_ ”, Zoro laughs. “Anyway, back to that sake”.  
  
“ _Jeez_ , _moss-head_ , you’re such a brute”. Sanji stands up, swaying a little on his feet.  
  
He tries to fix his wrinkled shirt, but it doesn’t help much, especially because that is not what stands out the most about the white fabric, but rather the giant blue stain over his ribs.  
  
“You should leave early, too”.  
  
Much to Nami’s surprise, Zoro doesn’t accept the provocation. It’s probably due to the fact Robin has an eye on him as well, but she’s grateful, nonetheless. The last thing she needs is for those two to start fighting at a stranger’s birthday party… although anything is better than Chopper almost drowning at Basil’s.  
  
“Get lost, _ero-cook_ ”, he scoffs. “You’re the last person who can lecture people about decency tonight”.   
  
Nami agrees with him, but she snatches the bottle from Robin’s hands and pops it open to diffuse the tension. “Here, let’s get this done”, she declares. “Zoro, _the cups_ ”.  
  
“Why do you think they are leaving so early?”, asks Sanji as she fills them one by one, handing them to his friends. She hesitates when it’s time to give one to the blond, but eventually she does.  
  
_His body, his choice_.  
  
“Sabo seemed fine earlier and Ace wouldn’t let a burnt shirt get in his way… It’s strange since they are the ones who brought us here in the first place”.   
  
“Well, speak for yourself”, Robin interjects. “I met Koala in the summer, but recently I helped her with something and we grew a bit closer. Enough for her to invite me today, _I suppose_ ”.  
  
“She seems very nice”, Nami notes. “I hope she’s having fun…”  
  
She’s a bit startled from the response she gets, but she recovers fast enough to toast with her friends.  
  
“I’m afraid it’s a little late for that now…” 

* * *

* * *

It’s quiet inside the car, with only the slow buzz coming from the radio interrupting the otherwise flat atmosphere.  
  
Sabo keeps his eyes straight on the road and drives silently, whilst on the passenger side Ace sometimes speaks up to ask him to drive faster.  
  
Luffy sits in the back, eyeing the newest tattoo on his brother’s shirtless back, trying to figure out why everyone seems so pissed off tonight.  
  
“It’s not fair”, Ace complains, fidgeting with the radio until it’s synched with a station he likes. “I was having a great time at Koala’s party. Why did we leave early, again?”  
  
Sabo drums absently on the steering wheel, pretending not to hear him, but eventually he has to relent when both his brothers look expectantly at him, with twin pairs of puppy eyes.  
  
“Should I remind you all three of us have class in the morning?”, he grunts. “Besides, like I already said, I’m not feeling too well tonight”.  
  
Ace narrows his eyes at him. “ _'kay_ , but… What’s up with you and Koala?”  
  
Luffy remains silent in the back, observing the two.  
  
He never understands at least half of the conversations they have in his presence, but he still loves moments like this, when it’s just the three of them – even though both his brothers are not in the best of moods, he still cherishes it with a big smile.  
  
“…You’ve been weird around each other lately”, Ace presses, tired of the lack of replies.  
  
Sabo shrugs, seemingly bored, before shutting the radio off completely.  
  
“If you say so”.  
  
“Look, just don’t be an _ass_ when she’s around, ok?”, the other thunders, raising his voice. “I’m not sure what Luffy’s friend was alluding to earlier, but there’s already someone who’s hurting her…”  
  
“She’s a big girl, you know?”  
  
Luffy can’t help but notice how stiffly Sabo holds the wheel as he takes a sharp turn to the left, speeding up so they don’t crash into a car that’s coming the opposite way.  
  
There’s a loud honk, someone shouting their way, but they get away too fast to know how exactly they have been insulted.  
  
He waves his hand at them from the back window.  
  
“…Koala doesn’t need you poking your ugly nose into her business. If she needed your help, she would have asked for it. But she didn’t, did she?”  
  
Sabo’s last statement calms one of his brothers, but upsets the other: why he is telling Ace not to help a friend that’s being hurt?  
  
That’s not like him, this is not how they do things in this household.  
  
Even the old man would scold him for his words, and Garp is infamous for his heart of steel.  
  
“I suppose…”, Ace agrees halfheartedly. “Well, maybe I’ll just ask her tomorrow on campus”.  
  
“ _If_ she shows up”, Sabo retorts, “She was pretty drunk”.  
  
“… _Oi_ , what did you say about my nose?”  
  
Luffy laughs, finally receiving his opening. “He said your nose is ugly”.  
  
Five minutes later the car is parked in front of their apartment-building.  
  
The bright neon lights easily guide the three inside, where Ace sighs contentedly as the cold air stops brushing mercilessly upon his body.  
  
“Do I want to know how you lost your shirt, by the way?”, asks Sabo as they step inside the elevator.  
  
“Yeah, what happened to your shirt?”  
  
“I’ll tell you when you get older, Luffy”.  
  
Ace’s words still echo in his mind as he later settles in the guest bedroom, changing into a pair of red pajama pants and a white t-shirt.  
  
He’s not sure which brother it belongs to, because they’re both sensibly taller than him. It’s only eleven p.m., so he’s not tired enough to sleep, but Sabo has disappeared the moment they entered the house, and Ace is currently under the shower.  
  
After years of waiting for the dark-haired boy to free the bathroom, he knows he’s perfectly capable of spending an eternity in there.  
  
Luffy arranges the pillows behind his back more comfortably, unlocking the screen of his phone and going through the long list of messages he has never replied to.  
  
This activity keeps him occupied for five minutes at best, and soon boredom captures him again.  
  
Next up are socials, and he dutifully taps two times on the screen when he comes across the picture Nami just posted. He doesn’t last long over this either, but then, just as he’s about to close the app, his thumb inadvertently touches the top of the touchscreen, and his feed refreshes.  
  
He stares at the phone, confusion plastered on his face, but his surprise quickly morphs into something else entirely as his eyes land on a picture that has been just uploaded.  
  
Staring right back at him, albeit as a bunch of pixels, is Trafalgar Law.  
  
He lays prone on his bed, shoulders and back exposed by the lack of a shirt, half of his face concealed by the dark pillow he is resting it on top of…  
  
He doesn’t smile, looking directly into the camera, his yellow eyes conveying something that’s a hybrid of tragedy and defiance.  
  
_He is hot_ – the ridiculous thought startles him, although he has heard people describing Law with these exact words for years now.  
  
A guy like him, with “DEATH” tattooed on his hands, surely doesn’t go unnoticed, especially if he’s the son of a celebrity. The two of them are very similar in that regard, he can’t do anything either without people watching closely, and judging.  
  
Regardless, he has never produced this combination of signs on his own before, not for this specific boy, nor anybody else.  
  
On the edge of eighteen, Luffy is pretty sure he doesn’t like girls in _that_ sense.  
  
Even though people act like he doesn’t know the basics of human anatomy just because his life doesn’t revolve around sex, he has realized that he is not attracted to them a long time ago.  
  
As for boys, he’s not sure he’s attracted by them as a whole – the point is, he has never felt attraction before, regardless of the recipient.  
  
Sure, _one_ , maybe a couple times every month he will let his mind black out as his hand reaches beyond the waistband of his boxer briefs… but it’s never been something he does consciously, while thinking of other people.  
  
He just does it because it feels nice to touch himself there; besides, everyone seems to do it, so he never thought much about it.  
  
Not once did he think about touching another person that way or being touched by another, so it’s a bit surreal now, as his black eyes glance down at Law’s selfie once more, to feel the urge to trace the muscles on his back… with his _tongue_ , no less.  
  
Luffy shakes his head, ignoring the small tingle in his crotch area.   
  
The caption is very dramatic, something like “pit of unhappiness”, but it matches the look in his eyes, which the Straw-Hat captain, for _unspecified_ reasons, finds very disturbing.  
  
He likes it better when Law smiles.  
  
There’s a sudden knock, then Ace opens the door and pops his head inside.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Luffy, wanna play _The Witcher_ _3_ for a little bit? Sabo has gone to bed already”.  
  
“Sure!”, Luffy grins, showing him a thumbs up. “I’m on my way”.  
  
After a final look at the screen, he presses the appropriate button and locks it, following him downstairs.  
  
_Seriously_ , though.  
  
Trafalgar Law _is_ hot. 

* * *

* * *

The following morning, upon entering the classroom, three things, Chopper notices, are out of order: first and foremost, Luffy is already in his seat, talking cheerfully to some of their classmates; secondly Sanji, who sits next to him, is slumped on his desk and does not look as if he’s feeling very well, which the aspiring doctor finds very concerning; lastly, Robin is late for the first time since the beginning of school, but there’s such a dark look in her eyes, as she settles down next to him in the front row, that he decides not to bring it up.  
  
Turning around, he looks up at Nami, “What’s wrong with Sanji?”  
  
Out of the people in the picture she posted yesterday, which he saw this morning as he ate his breakfast, she seems the most likely to satisfy his curiosity.  
  
She groans before summing up the previous night for him, “It turns out the party Luffy invited us all to was the birthday party of one of his brothers’ friends, and Sanji got drunk in little over twenty minutes. We met Robin there, though. Luffy abandoned us around eleven, so we had a couple of drinks and then called it an early night”.  
  
She tucks an orange strand behind her ear, “You didn’t miss much”.  
  
“I see”, he murmurs, glaring disapprovingly at the blond sitting in the row of desks behind her. “Drink some water, Sanji, for God’s sake”.  
  
“S _a_ ke?”, Zoro pipes up, temporarily dazing out of his nap. “Where?”  
  
“It’s half past eight in the morning, _marimo_ ”, a voice shoots up.  
  
“It’s a joke, idiot”, the swordsman chastises, although his face becomes a bit red, enough for Chopper to notice anyway.  
  
It is Monday, so that means beginning the day with two hours of Sakazuki.  
  
When the professor arrives, of course, everyone stops messing around and quietly wishes him good morning.  
  
Despite the torture they are forced to endure, something good still comes out of the physics’ lecture when in the last fifteen minutes of class Akainu tells the students to close their textbooks, and that he has an announcement to make.  
  
“As we all know, Halloween is approaching”, he teases, knowing that even the slightest mention of the tournament will get him the attention of the entire class in ways his subject will never do, and predictably even sloppy students like Roronoa Zoro and Monkey D. Luffy are all ears.  
  
“During lunch a member of the staff will pin the pairings that were sorted for the first round to the noticeboard, while sometime around next week the sponsor will deliver the directives for this year to their teams”, he continues, pausing only when a hand shoots up from the back of the class.  
  
“Yes, Kaku?”  
  
“Did you get your hands on the list yet, sir?”  
  
“Actually, yes, I know what the matchups are”, he replies, before glaring sternly at him.  
  
The sorting happened on Friday afternoon, so pretty much all the sponsors have received the information by now, but the students are not supposed to get it until it’s officially published, so he adds, least someone else advances similar requests, “However, I am not telling you. We’ll go over them later during CP9’s meeting”.  
  
Whispers and theories start spreading through the whole classroom, and Chopper himself fails victim to the collective fever. He wonders who the Straw-Hats will be up against coming Halloween, hoping he’ll be able to contribute more this year.  
  
“…It doesn’t matter who we get, we are _destroying_ them anyway”,  
  
He flinches, recognizing Lucci’s drawl.  
  
From what the others told him he and Luffy never got along, to the point they would often fight during recess in their first year.  
  
After they both got suspended things seemed to cool down and they stopped being so open with their mutual dislike, but the animosity is very much alive _still_ , based on the things he has both seen and heard in the year he has been their classmate.  
  
Knowing they’re up against such fierce adversaries, who manage to make something dirty of what should be an occasion to spend time with one’s friends… it dampens Chopper’s enthusiasm a little.  
  
That being said, he’s still very eager to know who they’re up against, so when the bell finally rings around one p.m., and Brook waves his hand at them with an encouraging smile, he runs to the noticeboard on the first floor just as fast as his crewmates.  
  
Usopp and Franky, whose classroom is located a bit further away, join the rest of the group moments later, while Bartolomeo, Cavendish and Rebecca, who have most of their lessons in another building, take a bit longer to show up.  
  
Luffy goes to stand in line, behind the other captains who are waiting for the list to be finally revealed. He’s the fourth in the succession, after Jewerly Bonney from the other senior class, whom nobody expected to see here, Lucci, _of course_ , and a young, red-haired boy from _Galley-La_ whom Chopper has never met prior to this.  
  
Then Eustass arrives, accompanied by his usual gang. At last, a guy with platinum blond hair shows up, looking down on everybody as he takes the spot at the end of the line.   
  
“Here we go”, Caribou appears from around the corner, wearing his usual uniform, carrying the sheet of paper they are all waiting for.  
  
He hangs the list on the board, before slithering his way back to where he has just come from.  
  
Bonney takes a deep breath, going for the list. Chopper analyzes her reaction, noting the unease that she tries to mask with the confident smile on her face.  
  
Rob Lucci goes up next, and when he smirks triumphantly and starts teasing the pink-haired captain, it is pretty clear that _Punk Hazard_ will be facing the defending champion, _CP9_ , first.  
  
The third in line about faints upon setting his eyes on the matchups, but Luffy gives the crew a big thumbs when his turn finally arrives, and now it’s not really the time to be compassionate, so Chopper doesn’t dwell on the poor thing’s distraught.  
  
Kid’s laugh is loud and maniacal, an annoying, screeching sound that reverberates through the hallway, and after he browses the list there’s only the platinum blond boy left, who then tilts his head on the side to sneer at the Straw-Hats.  
  
“Sending you home will be _God’s Army_ ’s pleasure”, he notes, addressing Luffy directly.  
  
“Hi, I am God”.  
  
Bartolomeo lunges for his schoolmate with his fist raised, but Zoro catches him in time.  
  
It’s Nami who steps up and scoffs at him. “Get lost, Enel”, she warns. “We’ll kick your ass on Halloween. Be a sweetheart and avoid us until then, ‘ _mkay_?”  
  
She seems the only one acquainted with him, so when he leaves, after trading murderous glares with their captain and the rest of the crew, she then shares with her friends what little she knows about him.  
  
“He’s Enel, he’s from Skypiea. It’s his fourth year in New Marineford, but he remained pretty much out of anybody’s radar until last year he asked both Lola and Shiraoshi out on St. Valentine’s Day”.  
  
“That is no way to treat one precious lady, not to mention two!”, protests Sanji, holding a hand to his heart. “We got this, right, Captain? We won’t lose to someone like him”.  
  
“Shishishi”, Luffy chuckles, not caring one bit about his motives.  
  
“We are not losing to _Anal_ ”.  
  
“Luffy!”, Nami chastises, although she then joins the rest of the group and laughs with them.  
  
There are tears pricking at the corners of Chopper’s eyes when they finally stop, although some low, quieter giggles can still be heard.  
  
It’s in moments like this that he’s grateful he joined the Straw-Hats.  
  
It feels as if he cannot _not_ win when they are around. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go. 💖  
> As usual, thank you so much for reading my story. It's always nice to know this silly thing isn't entertaining only myself! 
> 
> Next chapter will be up as soon as I convince my lazy ass to sit down and edit it instead of working on one-shots that take three days to complete, but yeah, stay tuned for that! It seems I just can't stop writing about Zoro and Robin, ooops. 😇
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter, please! Is it just me or Sabo made things a hundred times worse? The song this chapter is titled after, ["Never Be Like You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7uj0JwgKg), may or may not be my Sabo/Koala anthem for this fic. 
> 
> Next up, we finally get to discover who's the love interest of Luffy's other brother. Have a lovely day!


	14. HandClap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Vivi's visit to the mall turns into begrudging chatter in front of a milkshake, Zoro gets lost in the school's gardens, this time on purpose, and Luffy ignores Law's plans for his special day with no remorse whatsoever.

**A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER**.   
  
The cashier shuffles loudly with the coins, handing her the receipt and then her change.  
  
Vivi smiles amicably at her, although she’s a little upset by the wrong name that’s scribbled across her cup.  
  
It’s only four letters, _dammit_ , and she’s already spending over a hundred belies on an average, downsized milkshake.  
  
She usually comes to the mall with her friends, especially Nami, but a book she has been wanting to read is still available only at the bookstore there, some sort of exclusive deal they stipulated to boost traffic to the shopping center, or so told her the man on the phone when she called to reserve her copy, whilst all of her friends are otherwise occupied, although some of their excuses sounded lame.  
  
The precious volume now sits comfortably in the shopping bag hanging on her right arm, which she dangles on her side as she strolls leisurely through the mall, looking curiously at the colorful windows and stepping inside a shop or two when she sees something that strikes her fancy, all the while sipping on her underwhelming milkshake, which, she has noticed, tastes a bit too sweet.  
  
Kaya said she needs to study, which is somewhat understandable, but Nami has muttered a weak excuse about a previous engagement whose details contradicted each other, while Robin… well, Robin hasn’t even tried to come up with a lie.  
  
She just ruffled her hair and apologized with that mysterious smile of hers.   
  
Her friend is obviously entitled to her secrets; however, she can’t expect Vivi not to make some assumptions if she goes around with a _hickey_ on her neck. Either a frenzied raccoon attacked her during the night, or someone sucked on her skin until it appeared.  
  
It is gone now, and she has started wearing her hair up during school again, but it was there for the larger part of last week.  
  
That paired with her random disappearances, it’s clear there’s something she isn’t telling her _gal-pals_ , but it’s okay. B  
  
rought up in a gilded cage, it took her a long time at first to open up to her friends; even now, there are still things she feels too ashamed to share. Preoccupied with such thoughts, Vivi doesn’t notice the body moving in her direction, so when the impact arrives, as her brain screams that Crocodile is trying something _now_ , she just goes limp on the stranger, and she’d fall to the ground if he didn’t hold her up.  
  
“ _Jeez_ , I am _so_ sorry”.  
  
… _Wait a minute_. She knows this voice.  
  
It takes her some time to connect the dots and associate the proper name to the sound in her panicked state, but eventually – _Ace_ – she comes back her senses.  
  
It surely helps that her milkshake spilled out everywhere, from her dress to the tip of her left boot, completely drenching her hand.  
  
It’s sticky, sticky and unpleasant.  
  
Alarmed, she glances down at her shopping bag, but fortunately it wasn’t affected, so she lets out a breath of relief. It is, however, short-lived.  
  
She raises her brown eyes once more, setting them on Ace.  
  
When recognition dawns on his face, she’s a bit startled by the charming smile he shows her way.  
  
“… _Vivi_ , right? Aren’t you Luffy’s friend?”  
  
“That’s me”, she replies, faintly, not sure how to address him. The Captain has often showed up to gatherings with his older brothers, so he’s not exactly a _stranger_ , but he’s not a friend either… Between his signature grin, freckles and broad, muscled shoulders, she always does her best to avoid him. There’s a very specific category of boys she finds… _troubling_ , and he’s the poster child for it.  
  
“I’m sorry I crashed into you, I should have looked where I was going”.  
  
“ _Likewise_ ”, Ace lowers his head, looking very apologetic.  
  
Finally, he releases the hold he has on her hips, eyeing the stain on her dress, and adds, “I’m sorry about your dress, _princess_ ”.  
  
“Just call me Vivi”, she corrects, hastily. Normally she has no qualms when people use her title, if anything, it helps her feel sheltered, but she doesn’t like the way it rolls out of his tongue. He makes it sound like a nasty word. “Don’t worry about the dress. What are milkshakes even made of, _mh_ , besides from milk, sugar and ice-cream? I’m sure it’s not permanently stained”.  
  
Well, at least she hopes; as the daughter of a king she doesn’t get much say over her wardrobe, especially with the palace’s stylist always looming over her.  
  
It would be nice if she got to keep one of the dresses she picked herself, or at least one of the few who passed the stylist’s _inspection_.  
  
“ _Shit_ ”, he utters. “It was a milkshake? I’ll buy you another one”.  
  
Vivi shudders at the idea of re-entering the crowded, customer-service-less café.  
  
“There’s no need”, she reassures him, shaking her head with a small smile. “It wasn’t that good, anyway”.  
  
“I insist”, Ace shakes his head, hands in the front pocket of his jeans as he looks down pleadingly at her. “I feel bad enough already. Let me fix this, at least”.  
  
He picks up the now empty cup from her hand, ice-cream dripping on the linoleum, throwing it away in a nearby can. He leads the way as they silently make their way to the toilette area, where Vivi dips inside the female bathroom to wash her arm. When she appears again her arm, hand and boot are clean.  
  
Although most of the liquid has been successfully removed from the fabric, she still looks like she just had a close encounter with a sprinkler – Vivi really doesn’t care about getting another milkshake at this point, she just wants to go home and get started on her new book, but Ace doesn’t seem able to take no for an answer and eventually she follows him to the third floor.  
  
She has never been to the bar there, because honestly it doesn’t look that good from the outside.  
  
Her mind changes, partially, when the pair steps inside and the smell of freshly baked good hits her in powerful waves. It’s not as crowded as the café, probably because it’s located near less popular stores, so they get to the front of the line very quickly.  
  
The woman behind the counter smiles cheerfully at them, “What can I get you today, _lovebirds_?”  
  
Vivi almost chokes. _Almost_ , because the barista is acting like she knows the dark-haired boy standing next to her, and it doesn’t take long for her to do the math. Why would she assume anything of that kind, unless he brought his dates here? Ace was pretty popular in high school, she heard _the stories_.   
  
While she knows that is not the case with her, she still hates the idea that someone, even a complete stranger, would think of her as just his latest trophy.  
  
He may be funny, he may be kind, he may be pretty… unfortunately, everyone knows he’s also a bit of a _fuckboy_.  
  
He doesn’t seem fazed by the woman’s statement and returns her smile. “I’ll get the usual”, he instructs, before whipping his head around and nudging Vivi on the arm, “What about you?”  
  
She looks intently at the panel towering over the woman’s head, where the menu is written, eager to get this business done _asap_.  
“A watermelon shake, please”, she tells the barista, who then proceeds to bark orders to a younger girl nearby as she starts printing their receipt.  
  
“That’ll be two hundred and sixty-six belies”.  
  
Vivi doesn’t protest as he picks up his wallet and pays, accepting the drink into her hands when it is ready, but she’s very grateful when they are finally out of the woman’s sight, since she doesn’t stop staring at them as if Ace is about to drop on one knee and propose to her.  
  
They sit down at one of the few tables outside, where Ace, upon noticing her discomfort, smiles bashfully at her.  
  
“Sorry about Kokoro”, he apologizes. “She has been trying to figure out if I have a girlfriend for years”. She’s a little confused as to why a barista at the mall would be so interested in a random boy’s life, but it seems they’re at least on a first name basis. Helpfully, he continues, “She’s Dadan’s older sister. If you’ve been to our house before, you met Dadan. Over the years, we ended up here on a fair number of occasions when an emergency came up and no one could watch me and my brothers”.  
  
Vivi nods. Anyone who knows Luffy has heard about the woman who raised him. In her opinion she isn’t even as _strict_ as the captain describes her as, but her spirit is much tamer than his, after all.  
  
“Yes, I am familiar with Dadan-san”.

* * *

Ace doesn’t know why he feels the urge to explain the situation to her, but she looks pretty uncomfortable with the woman’s jokes.  
  
He wouldn’t want for Kokoro’s words to ruin her afternoon more than his inattention already did, although he can see why someone who doesn’t know her would be bothered by it.  
  
“I’m not sure why she’s so invested in my romantic life”, he confesses. “But most of my female friends started refusing to come here at some point…”  
  
Vivi smiles stiffly at him. “I see…”, she trails off, sipping on her milkshake.  
  
Her face softens in an expression of delight when she tastes the drink, but she’s quickly to recover and hide her enjoyment, much to Ace’s dismay.  
  
This feels wrong.  
  
Luffy’s friends usually _love_ him.  
  
“Can’t you just ask one of your friends to pretend they’re your girlfriend and get this over with, then?”   
  
“Are you _volunteering_?”, he smirks, cheekily. “I considered that, but it would be too cruel. Poor lady just wants the baby he helped raising to be happy. Besides, she would expect to meet her”.  
  
“What? _No_!”, Vivi shrieks, alerting the other customers, who turn around sharply in their direction. She blushes, muttering an apology, before concluding, sharply, “Then I guess you and your friends are stuck with her. I like this place, though. It’s a pity Luffy never mentioned it…”  
  
“ _Ah_ ”, he chuckles, “That makes sense. My little brother was banned from this place during working hours…”  
  
“ _Banned_?”, the blue-haired girl stammers. “How?”  
  
“He ate all the pastry and left none for the customers when he was twelve”, Ace narrates, eyes shining with mirth as he recalls the event.  
  
The Alabasta princess looks slightly amused, as well. “Yeah, I can see Luffy doing that”. He’s such a glutton. “The whole crew was banned from a couple of places as well over the years…”  
  
She starts listing them, but he listens half-heartedly. His attention is focused on her expression, gentle but guarded. That, paired with her reaction when he accidentally stumbled into her, can’t help but remind him of the favor his little brother has recently asked of him, or the background behind it.  
  
“… So, the manager ended up calling _his_ manager, and eventually we were told that they needed us to leave. We aren’t technically banned from that place, but there’s no way any of us is going back there after what happened…”  
  
Ace waits for her to finish the story. Not sure how to approach the subject, he tries a weak, “Anyways, about Luffy. He told me what happened at Marco’s club the last time you were there…”  
  
He takes a sip from his hot chocolate as he watches her shoulders slump, smile vanishing instantly as she picks up on the undertones of his words.  
  
The look she sends his way, eyes widened in panic, makes him regretful he brought it up, but simultaneously even more compelled to discuss it with her.  
  
“What about it?”, she snaps, brown eyes now reduced to slits.  
  
“Nothing. It’s just…”, he hesitates, “…I’m sorry you’re having to go through all that”.  
  
Vivi lets out a bitter laugh. “ _Honestly_ , I’ve been going through it my whole life”, she corrects him, “I thought it was finally over, but apparently that’s not the case”.  
  
He shudders at the thought of a seventeen years old being so disenchanted about life.  
  
“Hopefully, Crocodile and his family will face some sort of consequence for their actions at some point. _Until then_ …”  
  
She doesn’t complete the sentence, but he doesn’t like any of the endings he imagines.  
  
_Until then_ she won’t be free to walk down the road without watching her back.  
  
_Until then_ she’ll have to constantly fear for her safety.  
  
_Until then_ the possibility her father’s political rivals get their hands on her is real.  
  
“Marco is keeping his eyes open. If he shows up at the Nest again, he’ll give me whatever information he manages to get on his current whereabouts”, he tries to reassure her, although two weeks have gone, and the man is yet to visit the nightclub again. “We looked him up online. Well, Sabo did… Anyways, he doesn’t seem like the type of character who can keep his hands clean for very long, so maybe he’ll give the police here a reason to arrest him sooner than we expect…”  
  
“That family is good at covering their tracks, especially the son, Crocodile”, Vivi retorts. “They usually pay other people to do the actual criminal work in their stead. The crown’s attorneys faced them countless times in court, but they always managed to slip away and pin their wrongdoings on someone else…”  
  
She pauses, sighing softly.  
  
“Thank you, by the way. Luffy told me you’re trying to help”.  
  
The smile Vivi shows him now is a little brighter than the ones from earlier, more genuine.  
  
He initially forgets to reply as he stares at her face, at her small chin and round lips, her dainty nose and dark, beautiful eyes, thin eyebrows and long expanse of blue, wavy hair. She wears some sort of shiny clip on one side of her head, but other than that it just flows behind her shoulders, almost reaching the small of her back.  
  
He’s not discovering today that Luffy’s friend is _pretty_ , they all are, but it’s the first time that the thought comes up and lingers instead of immediately passing away. It feels… _weird_.  
  
He feels the same way he does when he’s asking a girl out, but it makes no sense. He’s positive he’s not trying to hit on her, especially whilst discussing her _stalker_.  
  
“Don’t mention it”, he utters when he recovers from his trance. “My brother will want to be by your side every step of the way, I’d get involved one way or the other”.  
  
It seems he forgot to mute his phone, because just as Vivi is about to reply a familiar tune starts ringing inside his pocket. He tries to ignore it, but she nudges his foot behind the table, lightly.  
  
“You should answer that”. 

* * *

She checks her own cellphone as he briefly arranges a meeting over his phone. When Ace puts away his phone, glancing up at her with an apologetic smile, she already knows what it’s about.  
  
She was here for the entire call, and, frankly, she’s relieved – she can finally go home and take a nice, long bath.  
  
To be honest, since the moment they crossed paths she has been asking herself what Luffy’s brother could possibly be doing at the mall, alone, on a Monday afternoon, but it’s still a little bit disappointing that he needs to leave now, just when she’s getting used to his company.  
  
It sounded like he’s meeting up with a friend, who finally arrived, and he confirms just that.  
  
“ _Err_ , my friend’s here”, he announces, reaching out to grab the phone on her hands. Luckily, she has been looking at the news, so there’s nothing embarrassing he can see before typing his number on the touchscreen. He presses the call button, then hands it back to her. “This way you won’t have to rely on my brother for information, if something comes up. He tends to forget the details he doesn’t find important…”  
  
She snatches the device back, locking the screen and placing it on top of the table, waving her hand as he picks up his cup and stands. “Goodbye, Ace”.  
  
“Until later, _princess_ ”, he smirks, stepping away from the table.  
  
Vivi decides to stay a little while longer, sipping on her milkshake and doing her best to look unaffected. Kokoro is serving a nearby table, looking at her with a pity in her eyes that it’s enraging.  
  
Her glance follows the boy’s retreating back until he stops at several feet of distance, in front of a shop that sells houseware. A young woman with short, light brown hair appears shortly after, tapping him on the shoulder and playfully pulling him into a hug when he turns around to greet her. They enter the shop then, and she loses sight of them.  
  
Somehow, she feels as if she should have known his friend was a _she_.  
  
“ _Ah_ , young love”, Kokoro sighs, although Vivi can’t tell whether she’s happy or sad about the ordeal. “…You know, nothing has happened _yet._ You can still win him back”, she continues, walking over to her table, placing a small plate with a cookie on top in front of her, “On the house”.  
  
Vivi doesn’t roll her eyes at her only because she’s extremely polite.  
  
“Thank you for the cookie”.

The urge to return home presents itself again, with more intensity, so she quickly grabs her belongings, says goodbye to the woman and walks away from the bar.  
  
It’s only by pure _accident_ that she passes in front of the houseware store and an even greater twist of fate when her brown eyes peek inside, spotting Ace and “his friend” as they browse the shelves and pick out _bedsheets_ , of all things, together.  
  
Vivi frowns at the sight, but that’s the final push she needs to quickly make her way out of the mall.  
  
Those stories varied over many points, but all agreed on the same one. Ace has the attention-span of a caterpillar: one day he goes to the movies with Conis from 4th A, then the next one he is spotted kissing Boa Hancock on the fourth floor, and what to say of prom, where he allegedly showed up dateless only to steal someone else’s.  
  
So on and so forth, while not all gossip is probably accurate, some of the tales surrounding the former New Marineford student have to be truthful, simply because there are too many.  
  
People still like to gossip about him even now that he has graduated, although his name comes up a lot less now that he presumably hangs out with his university peers.  
  
Vivi supposes she now belongs to the long list of girls who, if only for the briefest moment, have allowed him to make them slip and feel special.  
  
_Stupid_ _fuckboy_ … 

* * *

* * *

On Wednesday recess comes after two painful hours of Fujitora lecturing them about geography, specifically the ins and outs of trading between the New World and Paradise, a far away stretch of sea on the other side of Reverse Mountain that is infamous for two things: a wide variety of exports, from food to rare metals, _and_ it’s political turmoil. For someone who has lived in Alabasta for over a year, his class felt a bit redundant.  
  
Robin is walking outside with her friends, like she has been doing for little over a month now, threading at the end of the line alongside Nami and Kaya, who are currently discussing their plans for next weekend.  
  
They’ll be spending two days and one night over at a nearby island, Mystoria, where hopefully they’ll have a chance to unwind and have some fun before the tournament becomes the only thing on their minds, but the dark-haired girl, despite sharing the general excitement, is a bit anxious about it, so much so that she started packing her bag three days ago despite getting Saul’s permission to go only yesterday.  
  
Whilst technically she’s free to do as she pleases, part of the agreement they stipulated last spring explicitly demanded she would always make her location known.  
  
Olvia’s best friend reserves himself the right to _veto_ any places or events he deems dangerous, so that he’s not called another time by the Alubarna PD about a kidnapped princess. He has never exerted such right, but it’s the first time he has taken so long to decide.  
  
She feels… happy.  
  
Her eyes jump in between her companions, from Luffy, who’s stuffing his face with Sanji’s homemade croissants, to Usopp, who is sharing one of his absurd stories with Chopper. Franky and Vivi are not far from them, discussing the hardships of styling blue hair, whilst Zoro just walks quietly behind them, sleeves rolled to his elbows, until suddenly he takes a turn in the opposite direction from anybody else, and she sees the bright green patch on his head disappear behind a corner.  
  
Robin considers following him straight away, but she knows the others will get suspicious if she disappears after him without saying a word.  
  
It’s been almost two weeks since their dinner at the Baratie and they are _yet_ , unfortunately, to go out a second time. They have rescheduled three times already.  
  
It seems something always comes up last minute, on one side or the other, whenever the two agree to meet outside of school, but they still exploit every little chance they get to sneak away and spend some time alone, during which, if she is honest, they seem quite unable to keep their hands to themselves.   
  
A couple of minutes later, although it feels like eternity, Usopp asks, “ _Ne_ , guys, where’s Zoro?”  
  
“Don’t know, don’t care. He probably got lost”, Sanji pipes up.  
  
“Moss-head can’t walk straight even on top of a line”.  
  
That warrants him a laugh from most of the crew, but Robin just thinly presses her lips together.  
  
If anything, his inability not to get lost gives him a bit of a daydreamer look, which she finds very endearing, thank you very much.  
  
“Perhaps he just preceded us to class”, she suggests. “We should look for him, though. I’ll walk back the same way we came since I can’t find my hair-tie. I remember I was playing with it a little ago, so I must have dropped it somewhere on the way…”  
  
She pairs her words with the best innocent smile she can produce, but Nami, who stands the closest to her, still narrows her eyebrows at her.  
  
“Do you want us to come with you?”, she offers, gesturing between herself and Kaya. “Or you know what, why don’t you just borrow one of my hair-ties and forget about this one?”  
  
Robin blinks. Her friend makes an excellent point. “I rather like that one”, she insists, weakly, before pointing to a spot behind them with a fake gasp, “There’s a guy with green hair over there”.  
  
Quite predictably, most of the group rushes excitedly in that direction.  
  
“Go fetch them before half our class gets lost”, she tells Nami, “I’ll be fine on my own”.  
  
“If you’re sure…”  
  
Her orange-haired friend hesitates, but eventually she grabs Kaya by the arm and starts dragging her towards the others, who are currently chasing the student she’s pretty sure not to be Zoro.  
  
Back-tracking on her steps, she takes the same turn he made earlier, humming to herself as her shoes clank against the small stones of the grey pebbled road.  
  
A strong set of arms suddenly closes on her and someone hugs her from behind as a cheeky voice whispers in her ear, “Looking for me, I hope”.  
  
Robin turns around in his arms, swatting him lightly on the chest before she returns the hug.  
  
Zoro leans down for a kiss, but she’s not too sure this is a good idea at first. Although there’s virtually no one around, they usually meet in places where they wouldn’t be as easy to spot as they are now.  
  
Eventually, she surrenders to the pressure his lips are applying to hers.  
  
As long as they keep their ears open and they keep the kiss short and chaste, the worse it can happen is that someone sees them, but even then she’s sure it wouldn’t be too bad unless it’s one of their friends; Sanji, in the absolute worst case scenario.  
  
When they pull back, he puts both hands on her hips, refusing to let go of the hug as he starts placing small kisses on her jaw.  
  
“I may have good news. My training was moved to this afternoon, so if you’re still free tomorrow like you said, maybe we could meet up then…”  
  
She looks up at him, sadly. “I promised Luffy I’d help him write the essay for Friday”, she admits. “I thought you were busy tomorrow, so… It seems we are quite _star-crossed_ ”.  
  
Robin appreciates his attempt not to curse out loud, although she can still read his mouth.  
  
“What about tonight? If you’re not too tired after you’re training, you could drop by my apartment… I mean, we can have dinner there if you want”.  
  
She can feel his smile on one side of her face before he tilts his head up again to capture her lips in another kiss. “I’ll be there at eight”, he says. “I’d never be too tired for that”.  
  
Unfortunately for the pair, the bell soon rings, reminding the two that they are still very far from class.  
  
Pecking his cheek once and turning her head the opposite way when he tries to turn it into something more, Robin takes a deep breath and urges him to follow her towards to entrance.  
  
They walk hurriedly back to class, but he puts his hand over hers on the handle to stop her before she can open the door. “I’ll see you later, then. I’ll text you when on my way”.  
  
As they enter the classroom, both release a sigh of relief upon noticing that Caesar Clown hasn’t arrived yet, and quietly take their seats.  
  
She can practically feel Nami’s eyes glaring holes in the back of her head, but she refuses to turn around unless spoken to.  
  
“Robin- _chwan_ ** _~_**! I’m so sorry a beautiful lady like you had to guide the stray _marimo_ back…”, Sanji erupts, making her eyes roll so hard they become all white for a moment. _C’mon_ , not now. “…I swear, one day we are just going to call a vet and ask him to put a _chip_ in him”.  
  
“ _Oi_ , _joke-brows_ , say that to my face if you’ve got the _balls_ –”  
  
The door shuts close with a loud, thundering sound, the chemistry professor waltzing into the classroom with the usual sneer on his face.  
  
As Punk Hazard’s sponsor, he has been in a pretty bad mood ever since the lists were published and it was revealed that they will face CP9, the favored candidate.  
  
Robin’s still not sure she fully grasps the major importance the school tournament seems to have for most people around here, but her friends’ enthusiasm is rubbing off on her.  
  
They care very deeply about the title, and it does look good on college applications in the New World, or so she was told – somehow, she both dreads and anticipates Halloween.  
  
On the one hand Robin, of course, wants to _win_ this thing, prove to her friends and to herself that she can succeed in something, even as small as this is, if she really puts her energy into it; on the other, her research shows that the first round revolves heavily around physical feats, so she doubts she’ll be of much help for them.  
  
She’s not weak by any means, but, unlike most of the crew, she isn’t an athlete either.   
  
The professor clears his throat and begins his lecture, snapping her back to reality.  
  
“Is everything okay, Robin?”, Chopper whispers from his seat on her left. “You look… distracted”.  
  
“ _Ah_ , don’t worry about me”, she smiles. “Everything is fine”.

* * *

* * *

Trafalgar Law is late to school the following day, pulling up into the parking lot when he’s supposed to be already sitting in class.  
  
Kizaru probably won’t be very lenient, but he couldn’t care less.  
  
He hates his birthday, but this year is even worse than usual.  
  
Rosinante was held up by an important case and won’t be back in Grand Line City in time to celebrate, so, since he usually spends it with him, refusing to burden his friends with the responsibility of making his day _special_ , there’s absolutely nothing he wants to do today other than patiently wait for tomorrow to come.  
  
Sixth of October – what an anonymous day to be born into.  
  
The boy strolls down the path that leads to the staff’s back-entrance, knowing the shortcut will save him precious time and possibly another round of detention.  
  
It is the last thing he needs.  
  
While he has paid his debt to his uncle in full, just as promised, he still has this week’s sells to cover.  
  
The cleaning lady pretends not to see him as she usually does, and Law nods his head curtly in acknowledgment before stepping out of the storage room.  
  
A little later he enters section 5th B, the last bell ringing just as he hooks his schoolbag to the back of his chair.  
  
He tries not to smirk too outwardly as Borsalino glares at him.  
  
He accepts, begrudgingly, his close friends’ birthday wishes, but he draws the line at the class representative, Shiraoshi, standing up and making an announcement about it.  
  
Both he and Tashigi in the front are wished a happy birthday on behalf of the class, but he pretends not to hear her, leaving Bepo, Penguin and Shachi to thank her in his stead.  
  
He doesn’t regret the choice, however; he just wants a quiet day with as little human interaction as possible. If people really want to make him happy today, then they should just avoid him.  
  
For the whole day he tries to juggle out of his friends’ surprises, like when they try to coordinate and sing happy birthday to him at lunch in the crowded cafeteria, even going as far as to produce a cake out of nowhere – of course, Law takes advantage of their temporary distraction and bails out before they can protest.  
  
That doesn’t stop them from seeking him after class, however, so the birthday boy is forced to hide even at the end of the day, choosing the only place where he knows he’ll be left alone: the library.  
  
Students rarely bother coming in here unless they need materials only this place can provide, so he’s not surprised by the small number of people that are currently present.  
  
He settles down at one of the tables, the furthest one away from the entrance, so he can keep an eye on the whole space without anybody seeing him from most spots.  
  
Reaching into his backpack to retrieve his notebook, Law starts working on his history homework, getting a good fifteen minutes of study done before the silence is broken and someone sits loudly next to him, opening a pack of chips.  
  
The aspiring surgeon turns his head sharply in the direction the noise comes from, but he’s startled and ultimately silenced when he recognizes the newcomer.  
  
What does _he_ want now?  
  
“Hey, _Torao_ ”, Straw-Hat beams at him, that boyish smile of his he uses to wrap people around his little finger – or so he heard, Law _obviously_ wouldn’t know. “I saw you were sitting by yourself, so I thought I’d keep you some company…”  
  
His logic is highly debatable, not to mention being alone it’s the sole reason he’s at the library and not on his way home, but every other thought is cast aside the moment the realization dawns that Monkey D. Luffy is here, too, during his free time, without a detention note… sitting next to him because he wants to keep him company.  
  
“What are you doing here?”  
  
“ _Oh_ , me?”, he points a finger at himself, grinning even more loudly. “A friend is helping me with some homework and she told me to wait for her here”.  
  
_Thank God_. So, the sky is not falling, and the earth is still spinning on its axis… The other boy is not here by his own decision, and all is good.  
  
It is not the end of world, luckily, although he wouldn’t mind it if the apocalypse coincided with the day of his birth.  
  
That would be _badass_.   
  
“Why are _you_ here”, Luffy mutters after a little while, when silence follows his previous statement. “I’ve met Bepo and the others on my way here. They were looking for you…”  
  
His nagging voice is like that of a child, it drills its way into his brain until a reaction finally comes out of him.  
  
“As you can see, Mugiwara _-ya_ , I am very busy”, he scolds him, indicating the notebook laying in front of him, “Bepo and the others will have to find a way to accept it”.  
  
Law knows he probably sounded a bit more snappish than his interlocutor really deserves, but there’s no point crying over spoilt milk.  
  
Maybe he’ll finally understand why he’s sitting so far from anybody else.  
  
“I think your birthday should matter more to you than…”, Luffy pauses, peeking over his shoulder and at the notebook. “…the Shandian pre-war rituals. Anyways, I just wanted to wish you a happy–”  
  
“Don’t”, he raises one of his tattooed hands, stopping him.  
  
“ _Please_ ”, he adds, as an afterthought, when his shoulders slump and his smile dries out. His sudden unhappiness makes Law feel very _uneasy_ , upset even, so while he doesn’t understand the odd impulse, he still tries his best to patch things up.  
  
“I just don’t like birthdays…”, he admits, with a bit of a blush on his cheeks, “… Mine, in particular”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , that’s okay, _Torao_ ”, the other reassures him, although the disappointment is palpable in his voice. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable… _Happy birthday_ , by the way”.  
  
Luffy starts laughing then, louder than the library would allow, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes as he stares at his dumbfounded expression.  
  
He thought he was apologizing for crossing his boundaries, not sneaking around them to send a backhanded birthday wish his way.  
  
_He’s good_.  
  
The rest of the school may not realize how easily the Straw-Hats’ captain bends other people to his will, but Law can see right through the cheerful façade.  
  
“…Hello, boys. Am I interrupting you?”  
  
A third voice pipes up just as he’s about to tell Luffy off, so, naturally, his yellow eyes follow the sound directly to its source.  
  
The new girl in the other class stands a couple of feet from them, showing her pleasant, yet cunning smile, but even though she has recently joined the Straw-Hats, the only reason he remembers her name is because, as of today, some of his classmates _still_ can’t stop talking about her.  
  
Law hasn’t gone as far as to formulate an opinion on her yet, but she must be _charitable_ , at least, if she’s willing to spend her time helping the idiot sitting next to him with his homework.  
  
“Nico- _ya_ ”, he smirks, glad he can finally get rid of the nuisance. “You’re not interrupting anything. As a matter of fact, I was about to leave”.  
  
He slams his notebook shut, picking it up as he stands from his seat.  
  
“Here, you can have my seat”, he continues, patting his free hand on the back of the chair.  
  
Bepo has probably given up by now, since it’s almost five.  
  
Law dismisses them both with a nod and a lazy wave of his hand, walking away from the table as Luffy’s loud chatter accompanies him.  
  
For the rest of the evening, albeit with difficulty, he manages to keep the memory of his earlier encounter with the dark-haired menace at bay.  
  
He has just gotten off the phone with Bepo, who has complained for a whole hour about missing him after class, and he’s lounging in front of the tv, blunt in hand, when the doorbell suddenly rings.  
  
Walking cautiously to the door, he’s not waiting for neither a visit nor a delivery, so he’s wary of what might happen once it opens.  
  
What if Doflamingo has returned with more requests?  
  
Outside, a delivery guy is waiting and holds up impatiently a black, small box. He doesn’t ask him for payment, dropping the package in Law’s hands before returning to his truck.  
  
With a frown, the boy makes his way back inside, settling down onto the sofa once more. He takes a couple of whiffs from the forgotten blunt, then finally glances down at the bundle in his lap. Is this a gift of some sort?  
  
He doesn’t understand.  
  
The only one he was expecting, his father’s, arrived yesterday.  
  
Slowly, Law undoes the closure on top of the package, whose sides slide down to reveal a miniature cake with dark frosting and the number eighteen written on top with white glaze.  
  
There’s a small note inside, barely three words.  
  
It goes: “ _Happy birthday_ – _Luffy_ ”.  
  
_…that cheeky bastard_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to be quick 'cause later I have a check-up with the ophthalmologist and I'll probably won't be able to focus my sight enough to find and push the "post chapter" button. I feel kinda bad about Law not celebrating properly, as 18 years is a pretty huge milestone where I live (you're legally an adult, can take a driving license, drink alcohol, all the good stuff), but at least Luffy made it a little better, didn't he? 🥳
> 
> Next up, the trip to Mystoria, which will last for a total of three chapters.  
> Many good things are coming for our heroes, so stay tuned!! 💖
> 
> p.s. adding Ace/Vivi to the tags now that I don't risk spoiling the story for you! I hope you'll like what I'm planning for them.


	15. Body Language

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the Straw-Hats reach Mystoria, Robin has a hard time keeping herself in check and Zoro asks her a million belies question.

**DURING THE WEEKEND**.

Sunny weather and a warm, perfect breeze welcomes the Straw-Hats as they land on the tropical island of Mystoria, which stands near the gates of the New World, at just one hour of sailing from Grand Line City.  
  
It’s a popular destination, very easy to reach, so some of them have been here countless time before, while the good majority of the others has at least visited the place once before.  
  
Nami has, of course, only booked the best this place has to offer for her friends, especially when she is paying her stay by merely adding a little _organizational fee_ to their bills.  
  
She might be rich, but she’s not _stupid_. She is the one who speaks with the concierge at the desk, and she the one who retrieves the different keys and distributes them around. Surely, they don’t want her labor to go unpaid.  
  
“… _Ok_ , guys, hear me out for a second”, she calls out, holding up her smartphone so she can keep an eye on her planner. “Here are the keys to our rooms. Don’t lose them because I won’t pay a fine over it”.  
  
She starts handing them over, reading out from her list.  
  
“Okay, Chopper, you go with Franky and Luffy as requested. Vivi, you’re coming with me in one of the doubles. Zoro, Sanji, you take the other…”  
  
“Why am _I_ sleeping with the pervert cook?”  
  
“Like I said”, Nami retorts, pinching her nose. “Chopper, Franky and Luffy asked me to put them together. They’re planning on camping or something… Anyway, not my problem. As I was saying–”

“What about Usopp, then?”, interrupts Sanji.  
  
Her massage tomorrow is going on _his_ bill.  
  
“He’s sharing with me”, Kaya chimes in, with a subtle threat in her look. She _dares_ them to ask more questions about it. “Do you have a problem with that, Sanji-kun?”  
  
The chef, of course, falls instantly under her spell, swooning, “Of course not, _milady_ ** _~_**!”  
  
Usopp glares at him.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Sanji, knock it off”.  
  
“ _Anyway_ ”, says Nami, loudly, a high-pitched sound that immediately grasps everyone’s attention.  
  
“Robin, I got you a single like you asked me, although that’s going to increase your cut of the bill, of course”, she pauses, before addressing the rest of the group. “And that is it, I think. You have one hour to settle into your rooms and freshen up, we’ll meet back here at noon. The numbers of our rooms are written on the keys themselves, so we should probably just start going now…”  
  
The Straw-Hats split into smaller groups, although they all proceed in the general direction of the elevators.  
  
Considering they have reached the hotel in time and their captain has kept his shenanigans to a minimum, Nami is satisfied with the way things are proceeding thus far. She has this strange feeling lately, like her life is finally looking up and the loose threads sewn together.  
  
This just might be the time she gets to relax on a vacation with her friends…  
  
… _Or not_ , she muses, as she spots two of her crewmates arguing in the middle of the search for their room.  
  
“Why did I even listen to you, _moss-head_? We never should have made that right turn…”  
  
“…Suck it up, _dart-brow_. You’re the one who decided to use the stairs”. 

* * *

The group of ten meets up for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, knowing they’ll have to eat their meal quickly if they want to show up on time for their scheduled visit in the afternoon; Luffy, however, cares more about food, especially meat, than old cultures, whilst Sanji spends thirty minutes sharing his unrequested suggestions to improve the menu, so in the end they return to their rooms way beyond Nami’s strict schedule to get ready for the hike, and the girl threatens not to wait for people who don’t show up in time for the rest of the trip.  
  
No one takes her too seriously, however, because they know she’ll never follow up on her words: if she did, she would have to go around by herself for the whole two days.  
  
Nico Robin reaches _Room 193_ , those are the symbols scribbled neatly on the door, with ease, having snatched a small brochure with the hotel’s map on arrival.  
  
The dilemma of whether she should rent a private room all to herself or share one with Nami and Vivi has drilled into her brain ever since her orange-haired friend first suggested the trip during a drunken spur of the moment, but eventually she knows she made the right call.  
  
Her sleeping habits are peculiar, to say the least, and although she felt mortified whilst sharing them, it’s still better than having a panic attack because one of her roommates has gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  
  
Robin will sleep only when every door and window is locked and triple-checked, engulfed by absolute silence; if any of these conditions is not respected, _hello all-nighter_.  
  
Her bedroom is nice, although on the smaller side.  
  
There’s a flat screen on the wall in front of the king-sized bed, a spacious wardrobe and a small fridge filled with delicacies.  
  
The right side consists of wall-height glass windows that show an incredible view to the ocean, whilst the bathroom is a white, marble expanse, with double sinks, custom shower and a nice selection of soft, fluffy white towels.  
  
Opening up her travel case and picking up a fresh change of clothing and underwear, Robin concludes she has enough time to take a quick shower and spare plenty to get ready, so she neatly sprawls her choice of outfit on the bed and quickly makes her way to the bathroom.  
  
The warm water washes away some of the tiredness she feels after eating such a heavy meal, but what really helps her relax is her excitement for the upcoming visit to the temple: unlike Luffy, she does cares deeply about ancient history, she can’t wait to visit the mysterious temple later, since information about it was sparse and contradictory online and the books she ordered on the subject weren’t delivered in time.  
  
Fifteen minutes later or so, when her hair has been shampooed and conditioned and her skin is starting to turn red because of the boiling-hot temperature she likes her shower’s water to be, Robin steps up, wrapping her body in one of the bathrobes provided by the hotel.  
  
They surely make you pay for their services, but she’s satisfied with Nami’s choice so far.   
  
With one of the smaller towels she wipes away some of the humidity from the mirror sitting on top of the sink, staring idly at her reflection. She cringes at the leftovers of mascara under her bottom lashes, but quickly she retrieves a make-up wipe from her necessaire, brushing it over the sensitive skin of her undereye area until the black substance finally melts away.  
  
Robin puts on her underwear, and when her hair is eventually blow-dried, an activity that sucks up more time than she would like, she decides she’ll put on her makeup in the bedroom, using the full-height mirror nested inside the wardrobe, because the bathroom is just too hot.  
  
It’s fall in Grand Line City, so lately she has been wearing sweaters, woven hats, trench-coats, but technically it’s summer for the whole year in Mystoria, so maybe such a steamy shower wasn’t the best decision on her part…  
  
With a sigh, she wears the outfit she picked out earlier.  
  
Squeezing her usual moisturizer, but in travel-size, out of the tube, there’s five tiny dots of product on her face – forehead, both cheeks, nose and chin – when a sudden knock on the door startles her.  
  
Robin hesitates, rubbing the cream on her skin with a frown. _Who knocked_?   
  
All the rooms except one are on the same floor as hers, the third, but the closest one is Kaya and Usopp’s, so maybe the former needs something, although she doubts she would come to her before she goes to Nami and Vivi, since those three have known each other for years and share an unbreakable bond. Not that she doesn’t feel welcomed in their small group, the opposite from that, but she recognizes how close they are.  
  
She opens the door, beyond which a green-haired boy smiles sheepishly at her.  
  
Zoro holds a bundle of clothes in his arms, looking her up and down before he speaks, causing a blush to spread on her face. “I tried to call you, but I figured it’d be faster this way”, he shrugs, although the tip of his ears is a perfect match for her cheeks. He peeks over her shoulder, noticing her black phone plugged into the charger.  
  
“Anyway, the _ero-cook_ locked himself in the bathroom over thirty minutes ago and he still hasn’t come out yet. I have it on good authority that his ridiculous hair takes at least twenty minutes in the making, if you can believe that, so…”, he pauses, still upset by the idea of sharing a room with such an idiot. “… Do you mind if I borrow your shower?”   
  
Her blush deepens, but she removes herself from the threshold and gestures for him to come in, closing the door behind them.  
  
“The bathroom is still a little warm since I just had one, but sure, there you go”, she shows him the door. “Just a second”, she promises, disappearing inside the bathroom and returning with the clothes she was wearing this morning. “Make yourself at home. You should get at least a good twenty minutes before our presence is requested in the entrance hall”.  
  
“ _Stupid_ _cook_ ”, he scoffs, but walks to her and leans in for a kiss, anyway.  
  
After their second date earlier in the week, Zoro can tell that the way he feels about her is not like anything he has experienced in the past.  
  
When they are together, he just feels engulfed by a strange, overwhelming happiness that makes him indifferent to things that would normally enrage him, and if they’re not he’ll just be counting the minutes until the next time he can see her again.  
  
She’s the drug _and_ the medicine.  
  
Her face is very soft, with a slight ginger scent, hair still warm from the blow-dryer as he tows his fingers through it.  
  
She always releases a sweet little moan when he nibs at her lower lip in a certain way, he smirks when he hears the sound before tightening his grip on her waist. He deepens the kiss, outlining the sides of her body with his fingertips as she keeps a strong hold of his hair and neck.  
  
When they eventually pull away, Robin looks up, smiling coyly at the swordsman.  
  
It’s the first moment to themselves they get since the beginning of the trip, not that they didn’t know it would be hard to just sneak away when they’re supposed to be on vacation with their friends and they’re none the wiser about their current… _status_. Not that they’ve discussed it or labelled their relationship in any way, but they have definitely crossed the line between friendship and romance, so there’s that.  
  
She doesn’t want to imagine what Nami would say if she found out, but she’s sure her friend would have a field day teasing her and the swordsman about it.  
  
Kaya probably wouldn’t have a strong opinion on the matter, like Usopp or Franky, whilst Vivi would _judge_ her. The Alabastan princess is very uptight about relationships for some reason.  
  
Robin can’t imagine Luffy’s reaction, but Chopper would be happy, she thinks, if only because he always finds the bright side to anything.  
  
Finally, Sanji would likely take it as another reason to fight his green-haired rival and just keep spoiling her with homecooked treats as he does for the other girls in the group.   
  
Snapping out of such thoughts, her eyes fall on his overall… _blush_.  
  
Throat, ears, cheekbones or forehead, none is exempted. Zoro never seems able to keep a straight face after they kiss, even though he tries his hardest.  
  
Each time she notices this quirk, her feelings root a little deeper, if only because his body gives out signals his words are somehow lacking.  
  
If anything, he seems just as entranced as she is.   
  
“You should probably get started”, she notes. The wall-clock hanging on top of her bedside table stares menacingly at them, it won’t be long before the two of them are officially late. “It’s fifteen minutes now”.  
  
“ _Worth it_ ”, he shrugs, placing a final kiss on her cheek before finally turning around and entering the bathroom.  
  
“Wow, it’s nice in here”, he calls out from behind the now closed door.  
  
Returning to her previous task, Robin draws twin black lines on top of her eyes, puts on her favorite mascara and calls it a day. She doesn’t see the point of a full face of makeup if she’s going to be hiking.  
  
“Nami picked out an excellent hotel”, she shouts back, not sure whether Zoro will hear her now that the water’s on. “Who doubted it, anyway? It’s Nami, she wouldn’t sleep anywhere that’s not over the top… Now, imagine what Luffy would pick if he was given the task…”  
  
She trails off, amused by the idea.  
  
Thinking she’s alone with herself again, albeit shortly, Robin sits on her bed, her face towards the window, mesmerized by the view outside, by the white, pearly sand and the large expanse of blue beyond it.  
  
Many people are taking advantage of the great weather, as testified by the hundreds of colorful beach umbrellas scattered close to coast.  
  
Women, men, children – _families_ – people run excitedly in every direction, accompanied by friends or foes, or even alone.  
  
It’s strange how anyone there seems to belong in that beach.  
  
Absorbed into her thoughts, she doesn’t hear the door as it slides open once more behind her back, nor can she possibly notice the stealthy, barefoot steps that approach her.  
  
She just feels a tug on her shoulder and a chin settling on the crook of her neck, before Zoro’s flirtatious voice speaks up, “With Luffy planning things for us we would end up sleeping on the streets… Although I don’t really mind it if I’m sleeping with you”.  
  
“How come your not in the shower yet–”, Robin turns around, sharply, stammering as her eyes land on a big, chiseled, tan chest.  
  
“ _Uh_ ”, she stops again, temporarily uncapable to formulate a meaningful sentence. First and foremost, she knows he’s joking, but her mind can’t help but picturing a type of sleep that actually provides very little rest, so maybe he should refrain from being so _cheeky_ , and then there’s the fact he's standing in front of her without a shirt, looking as good as candy, and she can’t really bring herself to look away. “What are you doing?”  
  
He scratches the back of his head.  
  
“ _So_ , I was stepping into the shower when I noticed I didn’t bring a towel with me…”, he pauses, trying his best to conceal his embarrassment.  
  
He is not shy by any means, not when it comes to his body since he kicks his own ass constantly at the gym to keep it in its current shape, but for once the scrutiny he’s receiving is one he cares about, so he can’t help it but be a little apprehensive as the girl’s ( _his girl_?) eyes linger on his naked upper body.  
  
“Do you mind if I use one of yours? I’ve seen they gave you a lot”, he points to the bathroom behind him, where many cleans towels still sit next to one of the sinks.  
  
“ _Eh_?”, her blue eyes snap back to his face, cheeks flushed. “Yeah, sure. The blow-dryer is in the second drawer from the bottom”, Robin instructs, feigning indifference.  
  
She’s not the easier person to read, or so she has been told, so technically her thoughts shouldn’t be too obvious to pick up on, but the room still feels insanely small, and sweltering, so she quickly grabs her small backpack from the travel-case and starts filling it with what little objects she feels she’ll find useful during the hike before rushing to the door.  
  
“Just lock the door behind you when you’re done, please, Swordsman-san. I’ll see you downstairs”.

* * *

Zoro reaches the lobby barely ten minutes later, after the quickest shower of his life, still wondering why the girl had the sudden urge to run away from him. He doesn’t think he gave her a reason to be scared of him, he’s very careful to keep his impulses in check and never bites more than she wants him to chew, but he still finds the way she literally escaped the room quite troublesome and would rather discuss the issue with her before it has the time to brew and thrive.  
  
Spotting his friends, it’s not long before he notices that both the girls and the ero-cook are missing, so he instantly turns to Chopper, asking, “ _Oi_ , where are the others?”  
  
“Hey, Zoro. We were waiting for you”, his friend looks up at him, smiling. “Nami said the guide at the temple would cost us less if we divided in two smaller groups, so Nami, the girls and Sanji have already left…”  
  
The swordsman stifles down a curse, not wanting to take out his anger on the wrong target.  
  
It’s not Chopper's fault if that _fucking_ Vinsmoke is such a pain in his ass.  
  
Not only he confiscates the bathroom they are supposed to share, he then also slithers his way into the all-female group, no doubt so that he can harass those poor girls with his _shitty_ poetry and flex his non-existing merits.  
  
 _What a clown_.  
  
“ _So_ , are we meeting them there _or_ …”  
  
Chopper nods. “Yes, but only after we’ve climbed our way up to the hill and visited the temple”.  
  
He’s very excited about the prospect of learning more about this charming island and its traditions, although he knows he is probably the only one in his group who looks forward to the tour.  
  
“The path starts very close from here, though, so it shouldn’t be long before we’re all together again”.  
  
He, too, is a bit sad they’ll spend the next two hours separated from their other friends, but it’s not like Zoro to mind such things. He’s too confident to be concerned about things like _company_. Sometimes, Chopper wonders how he manages to keep it all so flawlessly together all the time.  
  
Ever since the day he rescued him last year from an older guy who was pushing him around, he really looks up to him, which means he’s exceptionally aware of everything going around him: he’s been acting a little different lately, but as much as he tries to pay attention he can’t quite pinpoint why.  
  
He has lost a bit of his goofiness, which is a pity, but at the same time he seems a bit _softer_ , so Chopper doesn’t really mind the trade-off, overall.  
  
“Whatever”, Zoro brushes it off with a casual shrug, but there’s still a thoughtful look on his face, which his younger friend doesn’t miss.  
  
He points his finger at Luffy and Usopp, who are laughing as they watch a video on the latter’s phone.  
  
“Where’s the other one?”  
  
“Excuse me… Sorry… Lady, _please_ , if you don’t mind moving…”, Franky shows up in the hall, slowly making his way through the crowd of hotel guests. Many people are meeting up there with their friends and families just as the Straw-Hats are doing, so it’s a bit hard to navigate in their opposite direction.  
  
“ _Woah_ , sorry guys”, he apologizes, approaching them. “I met a bit of a nasty old man in the lift and he pushed the wrong button _six_ _times_ ”.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Franky!”, Usopp and Luffy cheer, finally noticing his presence.  
  
The latter grins widely at his friends, pumping a fist in the air. “Let’s go!”  
  
Zoro idly follows the other four outside, knowing _they_ ’ll get lost without him, still thinking about Robin’s strange behavior even as his crewmates chatter happily around him, trying more than once to include him in the fun. It works for a little while, but eventually he finds himself sulking again each time as the thought of the blond chef _swooning_ over her out of his careful watch lingers.  
  
 _At least the witch is there_ , a little voice in his head whispers, _everyone knows he’s in love with her_ , _except Nami herself, of course, so he’ll behave_. Those two have been dancing around it for years now…   
  
“Hello, my name is Alvida. I’ll be your guide today…”

* * *

Sanji tags at the end of the group, _unamused_ , glaring at the guide as the four ladies he’s currently responsible for hang onto his every word. If this Benn Beckman was a woman, or at least a less attractive specimen, the blond wouldn’t feel quite as upset.  
  
He thought he was up for a great time when he snatched the last spot in their group for their visit to the temple, but _boy_ , _was he wrong_ – Nami and Kaya are gushing over the older man, Robin walks by herself, deep in thought, whilst Vivi is too busy either taking pictures of the gorgeous landscape or texting on her phone… there’s no lady available for the chef to dote on, which is starting to grate on his nerves.  
  
Puffing out a small cloud of white smoke, Sanji frowns as he stares down at the khaki-clad nuisance once more. Benn Beckman has long, black hair he keeps tied in a low ponytail hanging behind his neck, a good-natured smile and, it seems, a penchant for showing off in front of teenage girls.  
  
He’s courteous, neither his eyes nor his words ever go somewhere _inappropriate_ , or else Sanji would have intervened already, _of course_ , but he still parades around like he’s a rare peacock of some sort, narrating the sad tale of how he got the mark on his face. His scar is made of crossing diagonal slashes, it stretches from his eyebrow and goes deep down to the bottom of his ear.  
  
While it makes him less handsome, it adds charm to his persona, or so the girls seem to think, anyway.  
  
Even Robin chimes in sometimes, shooting question after question about Mystoria and its history; it seems to gradually restore the good mood she sported in the morning to a degree Sanji tried, but couldn’t.  
  
He noticed something wasn’t quite right with the dark-haired beauty the moment she stepped foot inside the hotel’s lobby for their afternoon hike, but no matter how hard he has tried, nothing he did cheered her up.  
  
“…The statue you can see over there, in the clearing between the trees, portrays the last monarch of Mystoria, Queen Shikha. She ruled for nearly thirty years, during which the island officially became part of the New World Government. Unfortunately, she fell victim to the same disease which took her father’s life, and she died very young, leaving behind no children, other relatives or a designated successor…”, the guide pauses, waiting for everyone to take a good look at the face sculpted in the white marble.  
  
“Seeing as Queen Shikha was the last of her dynasty, the Mystoria Parliament was created after little over a decade of civil-war between the aristocracy, who wished to appoint a new monarch and keep their privileges, and the rest of the population, who pushed for democracy. Eventually, Mystoria became a Republic. Almost twenty years from Queen Shikha’s death, on the seventh of March people from all over the island come to this statue to pay their tributes”.  
  
Even Sanji is a little fascinated with his small lecture, although he doesn’t let it transpire.  
  
His thoughts are immediately drawn to Germa, to the iron fist with which King Judge squashes everyone and everything who dare oppose him.  
  
Not that he’s any better as a father, anyway; there’s a reason why his son dreads the three times a year in which they meet, even though he knows there would be no point in trying to avoid it, as it’s the only condition he must respect to be left alone the rest of the time.  
  
Judge pays his tuition for New Marineford and sends him enough money to live comfortably every six months, but other than that they only interact on the king’s birthday, Christmas and _Warmongers Day_.  
  
Sanji his merely something to show off in front of the press, the pseudo-artistic son with the romantic inclinations the journalists love so much, but it’s well-known what the man, or his brothers, think of him.  
  
He’s a failure, a disgrace, something to keep hidden – sometimes he’s not sure they even consider him a person.  
  
“It seems it all turned out for the better”, Vivi muses.  
  
As a princess, one would expect her to side with Mystoria’s old-school, but it’s undeniable how much the island has thrived after the end of the civil war. She wishes Alabasta would open its borders to the outside world a little more, but she knows that with the current climate it would probably do her country more harm than good.  
  
With Crocodile’s family still at large, it’s only a matter of time before the more extremist fringes of their supporters re-organize and start hurting innocent citizens again.  
  
“I’m sorry, but…”, Robin chimes in, addressing the guide. “I’ve read a little about Queen Shikha in the past week, and it said she was married for twenty years. I understand they could have been unable to conceive, but the report I’ve read stated that a little girl appeared at court sometime after their marriage and that many speculated it was their daughter since she seemed very close to both the queen and king. I believe her name was _Ryo_?”  
  
Benn responds with a loud laugh and a wink, bringing up a hand to scratch the back of his neck. Under the scorching sun, the thin golden band around his finger shines, causing Sanji to gape at his wedding ring.  
  
“Your source is surprisingly correct, Miss”, he notes. “Ryo is indeed their child, although her birth was never officially recorded as such. Queen Shikha’s family was very oppressive as she grew up, so she didn’t want to place the same expectations on her only daughter. It was determined she’d tell them what she wanted to do with her life when she became eighteen, and when she did, she decided she’d rather marry some pathetic idiot from North Blue who one night happened to stumble on her restaurant with no money to pay for his dinner…”, Benn smiles at the memory, and his female customers pick up immediately on his subtle hint, whilst the blond guy with the twirl-eyebrows just stares at him, dumbfounded.  
  
His face is vaguely familiar, but he can’t point out _why_. At least he has stopped glaring as if he wants to kill him.  
  
“…I left behind my days as a sailor and finally finished my history degree, until I got this job. I still wonder what she saw in me that made her give up on a crown, if I have to be honest with you”.  
  
Sanji can’t believe his ears.  
  
As much as he may not like this dude, although it turns out he’s not _that_ bad, from the way he speaks of his wife it’s clear he must love her very much, so he feels a little guilty for judging him that harshly earlier.  
  
“She must be very beautiful if she resembles her mother even a little”, he speaks up, glancing up at the statue once more. The late Queen Shikha has been immortalized with a gentle smile on her lips. “Your spouse, I mean. Did you say she has a restaurant?”  
  
“Oh, right”, Nami pipes up, turning around and placing her beautiful eyes on him for the first time since they started trekking their way to the temple.  
  
“Sanji-kun is an amazing chef”, she praises him, and his heart melts a little inside his chest. She returns her attention to Beckman.  
  
“Can you possibly get us a table there for dinner? I know it would be on a very short notice, but we leave tomorrow…”, she hesitates, looking up at him with the best puppy eyes she can muster. Sanji almost turns to stone. “We would love to meet her”.  
  
“I’d love to try Ryo-san’s cuisine”, he adds. His beloved Nami-swan seems to care a lot about it, and truthfully he is quite curious, too. “Unless we inconvenience her, of course”.  
  
Benn smiles tightly. “I’m sure she’d love to meet you as well, but she’s currently out of the country. She was sent as an ambassador to represent Mystoria in Mary Geoise”.  
  
“I thought her identity was supposed to be a secret?”, Vivi frowns.  
  
  
“Do you think I would tell you her story if it wasn’t already of public domain?”  
  
“Fair enough. She seems very… inspiring”, there’s a slight blush on Robin’s cheeks, although she can pin it on the _heat,_ and nobody could argue with her.  
  
They’ve been walking for over twenty minutes, but it’s not the distance they have covered or the pace they kept that it’s unsufferable. The temperature it’s just too high, and even when a small breeze raises, the air it blows is hot.  
  
“Is there anywhere I could buy a book detailing the story a little more in depth?”  
  
The guide considers her request carefully, before nodding.  
  
“Know what, I’ll ask her staff to keep a table aside for you and I’ll drop by sometimes during dinner with that book. This tome specifically is a bit on the heavier side, but it contains an interview with Ryo herself, so it’s the most accurate currently on the market”.  
  
  
“That would be very nice of you, Benn-san. However, I feel we would be imposing on you a bit too much…”  
  
“ _Nonsense_ ”, Nami swats her on the arm, before turning to the man with an innocent smile. “I mean, he offered to be such a gracious host. It would be rude to refuse, _honestly_ …”  
  
“You friend is right”, the guide laughs again, thoroughly amused by the teenagers’ antics. He misses the time of his life he was so carefree, although he’d never trade it for the things he has now. “Just tell me how many people they need to accommodate, and I’ll call them as soon as we’re done with the tour”.  
  
Sanji is about to pick up his phone and offer to be the one to arrange dinner, not wanting to push all the weight of their trip on Nami-swan’s slender shoulders or, worse, for the orange-haired girl to have another occasion to notice how flawless _Mr. Fantastic_ here is, but Vivi, who was replying to yet another text, is quicker than him.  
  
“Here, you can type it here”, she pipes up, handing him the device.  
  
The blond chef is not sure why he feels so uneasy at the idea of spending more time with Benn Beckman now that he has proven he is actually a nice person, but he doesn’t like the way the woman he loves looks up at him with such admiration.  
  
It’s not like he ever had a chance, but it’s still overwhelmingly painful when yet another reminder of why he’s not good enough for her is shoved down his throat.   
  
Luckily for Sanji, the temple finally comes within sight when they resume their walk, pale rocks sitting on the group, neatly disposed one on top of the other.  
  
The small building has a very primitive shape, but there’s flowers everyone, the grass so green it seems Mother Nature herself just blossomed it.  
  
The conversation shifts back to Mystoria’s ancient history, and he lets out a sigh of relief.  
  
Keeping his cool around Nami, something he has been doing for the past five years, is getting increasingly more difficult lately.

* * *

The thin strands are soft and fresh underneath her fingertips as she lazily tows her hand through the meadow.  
  
Robin is waiting for the second group to finish their visit along the others, sitting idly on the ground as they talk about various things, from what they’ve learned today to their plans for the rest of the vacation.  
  
She knows she hasn’t been very participative this afternoon, mostly assorted in her own thoughts, but her mind still can’t put aside what happened earlier in her hotel room, when the sight of a certain shirtless someone has startled and flustered her so much that she had to flee said room, lest she did something she would regret. Maybe it’s because the grass reminds her of Zoro’s hair.  
  
Robin has calmed down now that she has had the time to sort out her thoughts, but she still fears the moment he’ll step out of the temple with the others, and she’ll have to face her earlier overreaction.  
  
Nudity is everywhere these days, and it never caused a big reaction in her, as long as things as rated PG13. Besides, she used to swim _semi_ -professionally, with competitors of all ages and genders gathering up at the same pool during tournaments, so she has definitely seen more masculine naked chests than she can remember.  
  
There’s nothing inherently _sexual_ with a person’s upper body, she thinks, although she’s sure many would disagree with her. That’s why she felt the immediate response of her body upon spotting Zoro’s half-naked form was concerning, why she fled: as her eyes scanned the toned, wide expanse of skin, lingering on his abs and chest before brushing over his shoulders and arms, the only thing on her mind was that she wanted to literally jump on him and _touch_ , _kiss_ , _lick_ and _bite_ all of it… even now, two hours later, she still wonders if it’s normal that she feels such a desperate pulls towards him.  
  
She is not naïve by any means, she’s familiar with concepts like _attraction_ , _hormones_ , _sex-drive_ … she has read the best science has produced so far on human reproduction and sexuality, it’s only the _intensity_ with which she is living these things on her skin lately that scares her.  
  
She’s not the biggest expert out there, but what little experiences she has had with boys taught her all the same thing: it doesn’t really matter how much you’re into your partner; if you play with fire, you get burnt.  
  
 _No exceptions_.  
  
So, how is she supposed _not_ to freak out when Zoro pushes her a bit closer to the abyss with each kiss?  
  
How is she supposed not to fall, and _hard_ , for him, when he’s _everything_ and _more_ that she adores about the male characters coming to life in the pages of her precious books? Just how?  
  
A second voice now echoes in her head, however, a poor approximation of what she imagines Benn Beckman’s wife would sound like.  
  
Stories like theirs are rare in real life, but Robin has always been a sucker for happy endings, considering she has had so few, _if any_ , of her own, and knowing what Ryo bargained back then, the future of an entire country, helps her put her relationship with the swordsman in perspective.  
  
She has only herself to gamble, or to _lose_. She wouldn’t mind a taste of something _great_ for once, before fate inevitably strikes again. There’ll be more hardships and pain in her future, that is life, but maybe she should enjoy the good things while they last, seize opportunities as they show up and stop over-thinking them until they expire. If it all goes down in flames at the end like it always does, she doesn’t want to add any more regrets to the ones she already has.  
  
Robin forces her hand to stop caressing the meadow, then returns her attention to her friends, who are sprawled on the grass all around her.  
  
Nami, Kaya and Vivi lay on top of a blanket one of them brought along, whilst Sanji is perched on top of a big stone. Unlike Robin, who’s simply resting on her jeans-clad back, touching the earth directly with her long, slender legs. She has spent almost two years in the desert, then moved to a big city. It’s not often she can lose herself into nature.  
  
The chef is smoking his cigarette with the usual modicum of _angst_ as he stares down at Nami, silent.  
  
He seems less on edge now than earlier, but still quite sad. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s in love with her. She has met both not long ago, little over a month, but it’s clear by now.  
  
She may play along with the “Nami’s friend” excuse, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t noticed the little things they do for each other, or the way they stare at the other when they think no one is looking at them. They touch, constantly, casual brushes of their legs under the table, or hugs that linger, but they also bicker a lot, anger festering on their unspoken feelings. It’s quite entertaining to watch, but painful all the same.  
  
They could both be _oh-so-very-happy_ if only they found the courage to finally confess.   
  
“ _Okay_ , enough is enough…”, Nami pipes up, turning to Vivi. “I’ve tried to mind my own business, but that thing has buzzed every five minutes or so in the last two hours”, she points a finger at the phone in her hands, accusingly. “Do you have an emergency of some kind or you’re just _smitten_ with someone?”  
  
Robin has noticed the detail as well, but she would never dare questioning her blue-haired friend about it.  
  
It still feels odd thinking of the Alabastan princess as such, although she’s getting used to it, she would never try to breach her privacy so blatantly. Now that Nami has brought up the elephant in the room, however, she finds Vivi’s blush is quite _telling_ , and from the corner of her eye she can see even the chef stirring up and listening in, amusedly.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, she retorts. She could fool an inexperienced stranger, but sadly her companions can’t only read her face and pick up on the subtle hints her body language gives away, they’re all also far more capable liars than she is: Robin and Sanji out of necessity, Nami out of convenience – the game is rigged against her.  
  
“It’s just my best friend from home…”  
  
“ _Oh_ , really?”, Nami teases with a smirk. “ _Please_ , do tell me all about _Karoo_ learning how to text and spare no details…”  
  
“What a prodigious _duck_ ”, Sanji chimes in, with an equally entertained expression.  
  
Robin can’t help but giggle herself as the princess gasps in shock, before puffing out her cheeks. She looks a little bit like an indignant child as she crosses her arms on her chest, it’s _adorable_. A wave of painful guilt washes over her, thinking of her past association with the person who got so close to hurting her.  
  
“We’re all ears, Vivi-chwan”.  
  
“How insensitive of you to assume he’s my best friend”, she frowns, but the deep, crimson hue that from her cheeks is now spreading to the rest of her face suggests the others’ claims aren’t so far-fetched.  
  
“Anyway, he had his checkup this morning because he injured one of his wings last week”, she explains. “His assistant was just telling me how that went. Luckily, his wing healed properly, so he can return to the pond”.  
  
“He’s your only friend. You never mentioned anyone else”, protests Nami, just as Sanji asks, flabbergasted, “ _Karoo_ has an assistant?”  
  
Robin just blinks, she has been wondering the same. How much assistance could a _duck_ possibly need? Then again, she wishes _she_ had one when she so desperately needed company in the desert.  
  
Maybe things would have gone a little better for her if she didn’t feel so alone and started going out with the wrong people… Maybe she should get a pet now, so that when the Straw-Hats finally wake up and realize that _she’s not all that_ , and cast her aside, she’ll still have some sort of bond to treasure.  
  
Wouldn’t that be a selfish reason to adopt one, though?  
  
“I’m glad he feels better”, she says, lamely.  
  
 _Wait_ … Where did the vicious thought come from? Nothing suggests her new friends _don’t_ like her.  
  
If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have been so _fucking nice_ to her. Ever since she sat at their lunch table on the first day of school, there hasn’t been a single occasion in which they gathered and she wasn’t invited, they have included her in their lives in ways no one else did before… She has never felt so effortlessly _accepted_ before.  
  
Although she still keeps her distance most of the time, not sure which boundaries she’s permitted to cross, Robin really can’t think of returning things to the way they were before they absolutely butted into her life, starting with a green swordsman who took too long to place his order at Makino’s and a cheerful, quirky captain who offered her his friendship in the parking lot and ending up in the present, where she’s having a cozy vacation with her friends and, possibly, the first boy she might seriously like.  
  
Perhaps that’s the reason her brain tricks her sometimes, conjuring up negative thoughts.  
  
Knowing how much she treasures what she has, it’s only logical she would be terrified of losing it.  
  
“He has _two_ , actually”, mutters Vivi, so she focuses on the conversation at hand once more. “Anyway, I got a picture”, she gushes, searching for the photo in her gallery. She shows it to Nami, then stands up to show it to the other two as well. “Isn’t he the cutest?”, she asks, _but_ rhetorically. She only accepts positive answers.  
  
The sight of a small duck happily floating on the water, picking at his feathers, makes her troubles melt away, and she grins instinctively at the screen. A familiar voice pierces through the air, as someone bolts out of the temple and starts running in their direction.  
  
“ _Oi_! _Sanji_!”, Luffy shouts, ignoring the older woman, presumably their guide, who tags close behind him and tries to fetch him by the collar.  
  
The other four come out as well, wearing apologetic smiles.  
  
“Can we eat the food _now_?”  
  
“I guess so”, the chef mumbles, although he looks at Nami, who rolls her eyes, before he starts spreading small plastic containers around. “Don’t stuff yourself too much, we’re in the process of securing a table in a nice place for dinner, keep some of your appetite”.  
  
His remark falls on deaf ears with the captain. There’s no such thing as eating _too much_ for him.  
  
Robin stops following their exchange from there, because the two groups plus the others’ guide have been finally reunited, so Zoro is now within her sight, this time wearing a simple black shirt, albeit extremely tight, and she almost chokes on her sandwich when he nonchalantly walks up to her and lets himself fall on her side before opening his own container.  
  
“ _Hey_ ”, he winks at her, starting to eat up his own sandwich.  
  
The ingredients inside seem different from those in hers, and a quick scan of her surroundings confirms her suspicion: Sanji took the time to personalize _everyone_ ’s snack.  
  
Thoughts of the chef’s kindness quickly evaporate as the swordsman gently pokes her arm, “How did you like the temple?”, he asks. “This is your thing, right? How would you rate the experience? We couldn’t finish the whole thing because Luffy ran out, so I don’t know how the story ends, but even I was mildly interested”.  
  
If they were alone, she would probably kiss him right now for bringing up her favorite subject, history. He’s giving her something to talk about and overcome some of the awkwardness she created earlier when she escaped her room, plus she appreciates that he paid attention to the visit, since temples and ruins don’t seem to be is typical strain of adventure. She wonders how he feels about museums…  
  
“I was very surprised with the richness of Mystoria’s past”, she finally speaks up. Robin looks up at him, observing he’s almost done eating whilst she has barely unwrapped hers, smiling shily as she tries to think of the good memories she has with him, of which she has plenty to choose from, and not the awkward ones, namely the shirtless accident from earlier. “Our guide was very knowledgeable, so that helped”.  
  
“Ours has a bit of a _crush_ on Luffy, but other than that she wasn’t too bad”, Zoro gulps down the last of his sandwich, before turning around and planting his eyes on her face. “I liked the bit about the dragons”.  
  
“ _Luffy_?”, Robin frowns, whipping her head around to search for the dark-haired teen.  
  
Luffy sits nearby, munching on the multiple sandwiches that were in his container, seemingly oblivious to the dark-haired woman who’s sliding closer and closer to him on the rock that was previously occupied by Sanji. The female guide just stares at him, without bothering with the snack the blond chef graciously offered to her.  
  
“Crush seems reductive”, she notes, turning back to the swordsman.  
  
“That’s so…”, she pauses, trying to figure out the right word. “… _Uncomfortable_. Luffy doesn’t seem to be reciprocating, not that I would expect him to”.  
  
“Hm, why?”  
  
“I’m not sure…”, Robin admits. “I don’t spend too much time thinking about people’s sexualities, but I’ve known Luffy for a month and I don’t think he’s into girls… However, I don’t think he’s into boys either. Never a word, a glance, a laugh or a reaction of any kind when someone makes a lewd joke or brings up sex”.  
  
“Now that you mention it, _yeah_ ”, he nods, squeezing his eyes before looking away. The sun is too bright for his unsheltered eyes.  
  
Robin hands him the sunglasses that were sitting on the top of her head.  
  
“So, what’s your theory?”  
  
“I have three, actually”, she replies, placing the sunglasses on his thigh since he’s not picking them up.  
  
“ _First_ , he has a girlfriend or a boyfriend and he’s the most faithful person on earth. But how come they’re not here now, for example? _Secondly_ , maybe Luffy is just asexual and he doesn’t feel the need to discuss it with people. We should ask Franky, he’s the one that knows the most about the subject…”, Robin pauses, before showing an apologetic smile, “ _At last_ , I think there’s one person the captain might not be _indifferent_ to, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to tell someone else about it, since I’ve helped him with something and he asked me to keep it quiet… I’m afraid I’d have to ask Luffy for permission to tell you, and in turn I would have to tell Luffy why you’re so _special_ that I need to share this anecdote with you”.   
  
“What did you help him with?”  
  
“He gave me his credit card and asked me to order some food and to have it delivered to someone’s house”, she doesn’t mention the “birthday part”, knowing it would give away the identity of the person for whom the cake was bought for, but she hopes it’ll be enough to satisfy his curiosity.  
  
“He did _what_ now?”  
  
A minute or two are spent in silence, as Zoro thinks over her words.  
  
He picks up the sunglasses and finally wears them, appreciative of the fact they’re black and not pink like Nami’s. He doesn’t define his masculinity by whatever color he’s wearing, but some of his friends aren’t as mature, and would probably interrupt his chat with Robin to tease him about it. Now that the sun is a bit less painful to face, he can look at her again.  
  
“Robin?”  
  
“ _Mh_?”  
  
“Tell Luffy”, he exhales. He, too, doesn’t care about who likes who and stuff like that, but it is strange to hear about the gesture. The captain is an awesome friend, but he _never_ shares.  
  
That he went out of his way to gift food to someone is unheard of.  
  
“And what should I tell him exactly?”, Robin counters, with a coy smile.  
  
She's feigning indifference, but he can see that she looks a bit on edge.  
  
He, _too_ , doesn’t feel too good, mostly because they are forced to whisper the conversation so that the others can’t hear them, and it won’t be long before someone cries out one of their names in surprise.  
  
“ _Do you want to be my girlfriend_?”

* * *

> **09** : **06** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _have a safe trip, princess. :)_   
>   
> **10** : **20** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _We just got out of the ship. The weather is incredible._   
> _Like home, but less dry._  
>   
>  **10** : **31** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _yeah, mystoria is great…_   
> _how is my little brother behaving? lol_  
>  _he tends to be a little over-energetic when he’s abroad_  
>   
>  **10** : **35** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Surprisingly… good._   
> _I think he hasn’t fully woken up yet, so I’ll keep you updated._  
>   
>  **10** : **37** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _please, do._ 🙏  
>   
>  **13** : **33** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Luffy didn’t leave enough food on the buffet table for the other customers._   
> _I don’t think they’ll let us back tomorrow._  
>  _Anyway, can’t wait for that hike._  
>   
>  **13** : **49** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _I’m surprised he lasted that long_  
>  _what hike?_  
>   
>  **13** : **55** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _We’re visiting a temple, but the only way to get there is through a path in the woods._  
>   
>  **14** : **21** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _sounds… interesting_  
>  _I’m not a fan of religion, so… temples are not my thing I guess_  
>  _how did you convince luffy to sign up?_   
>   
> **14** : **46** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Nami told him there’d be food afterwards if he co-operated._  
>   
>  **14** : **58** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _makes sense._  
>   
>  **15** : **37** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _It turns out the temple is on a hill, so we’ll have to walk longer._  
>  _On the bright side, this place is beautiful._  
>   
>  **15** : **44** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _oh, I think I know what you’re talking about_  
>  _enjoy your hike. :)_  
>  _that place is worth the hussle…_  
>   
>  **15** : **59** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _We finally got on top._  
>   
>  **16** : **02** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _how’s the view?_  
>   
>  **16** : **08** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Magnificent. I’ll be taking a lot of pictures._  
>   
>  **16** : **13** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _ahah, good idea_  
>   
>  **16** : **25** \- @ **nefertarivivi  
> ** _Ace?_   
>   
> **16** : **26** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _yes?_   
>   
> **16** : **34** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Are you allergic to uppercase letters or something?_  
>   
>  **16** : **40** \- @ **firefist  
> ** _oh, that_ 😅  
>  _it’s_ _just part of my aesthetics_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm posting this today. I was writing the Mystoria trip when I first started publishing this story here, and by now I can really tell you all that I am very happy that I decided to share my nonsense! 💖 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, please, do let me know what you think of this fanfiction this far! 
> 
> The next update should come your way very soon, since these 3 chapters were written back-to-back and they kind of all flow together in the bigger scheme of things... 🥰 next time, Robin opens a little more about her time in Alabasta, and the time after that... Well, you're in for some SanNami. I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas day! 💖
> 
> p.s. for those of you who are here for the ZoroBin, here's where I shamelessly spam the OS I published the other day, [Indigo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28169934). It's set in canon and, well, there's smut. It had been sitting on my drafts for months and... now it's a whole series. Ops ❣️


	16. Get Lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Kaya and Usopp have an argument, Robin tries cotton-candy for the first time and Nami surprises the whole crew; hearts are bared, reassurances whispered, and the past, from now on, will perhaps look a little less scary.

Kaya rolls her eyes when her boyfriend sits next to her on the blanket, moving away her face so that he pecks her cheek rather than her lips.  
  
He seems unfazed by this, however, because he just grins brightly at her, with that boyish smile of his, and starts munching on the sandwich the blond chef made for him.  
  
“ _Eh_ , that was fun…”, Usopp lets out a sigh, looking up at her. “How was your hike? Did you like it?”  
  
She can’t believe he’s so dense.  
  
_Read the room_ , she’d like to scream – but she doesn’t, because she hates arguing in front of other people, and he knows it. If she can’t let out her anger, then _ice_ be it.  
  
“Yes, very much”, she replies, flatly, still refusing to look at him. She keeps her eyes on the smiling faces sitting around them, happy they are at least enjoying themselves, but her expression remains neutral. If he doesn’t know why she’s mad, she won’t correct his mistake for him this time. “Our guide was very _charming_ ”.  
  
She knows that prodding at his insecurities it’s a low blow, but she’s too hurt to care. They both agreed they would take advantage of the trip to Mystoria to spend more time together, since lately they’ve been kept distant by their busy schedules, but Usopp doesn’t seem as interested in it as she is, so to _hell_ with it.  
  
Benn Beckman rejoins the group just now, smiling affably at the girls as he’s handed a plastic container with a sandwich as well.  
  
She briefly wonders just how many of those Sanji fitted into his backpack, but then her attention returns to the man when, after greeting his colleague, he raises his voice to address the whole group.  
  
“Nami, Vivi, Kaya, Robin, _Sandi_ … Table for ten at The Midnight Oyster. The kitchen’s open until eleven, but they’d appreciate it if you showed up before nine. I tend to the bar there at night, so I will see you all there. I’m afraid our visit ends here, but I’m sure I’ll get to meet everyone else later…”, he sends a smile in the general direction of the boys he didn’t meet earlier, as Alvida stands up and follows after him, wrapping her arm around the other guide’s and whispering something in his ear.  
  
Kaya returns her attention to her friends. Luffy is happily stealing the sandwich his guide has barely touched, whilst Chopper, who’s sitting on his other side, hums happily as Franky takes out his ukulele and starts playing lazily with it; Sanji repacks the now empty containers, Vivi and Nami soon stand up and join the others. She resents them a little for not turning around and ask her if she wants to join them, because now she is stuck on the blanket with Usopp, and she really doesn’t want to talk to him.  
  
Her eyes dash desperately for Robin, whom she remembers was sitting on the grass by herself, but now there’s the green-haired swordsman sitting next to her, and the two seem suspiciously… _cozy_.  
  
They are closer than two casual friends should be, although it was apparent from day one that the two really clicked together. Zoro is acting a little different lately. The change is subtle, so maybe she’s mistaken, but…  
  
Kaya blinks when she spots the dark-haired girl gently place a kiss on his cheek, making the boy turn bright red as he whispers something in her ear, making Robin giggle and blush as well.  
  
“What’s so special about that restaurant?”  
  
_I can’t believe this_ – she thinks.  
  
How come he does not know something’s wrong? Or is he just ignoring the fact as he waits to come up with a reliable lie?  
  
“Benn’s wife owns it”, Kaya mutters, icily. She turns around, but just to glare at him before she stands up and starts brushing invisible wrinkles away from the mint sports-shorts hanging loosely on her hips. “I’ll go with the girls now”, she declares, taking a step away. Only now does Usopp’s expression morphs into one of awareness, as realization dawns on him that there is, _indeed_ , something not quite right with his girlfriend. He tries to stop her, but it’s already too late. “I’ll see you back at the hotel”.  
  
The blonde trudges to the spot where her friends are chatting happily to each other, with Nami trying to snatch Sanji’s backpack and the young chef playfully retracting and forcing her to chase him… The sight brings a begrudging smile to her lips, those two are just so perfect for each other… If only they’d finally mature enough to admit it. Kaya has been observing this little game of _cat-and-mouse_ between them for over four years now. Maybe their relationship will always remain platonic, but she knows they’d make each other happy in ways other people couldn’t… like Usopp used to make _her_ happy.  
  
Well, it’s not like he stopped. _No_ , her long-nosed idiot is still very much capable of swaying her off her feet and drag her into absolute bliss… he just hasn’t had the time to do that, lately. That’s why she thought they agreed on using their small trip as chance to rekindle their romance.  
  
Doesn’t he miss her like she misses him? It’s not even that he didn’t offer to join the first group for the visit at the temple, what really pissed her off is that he outright refused when she asked him to and _then_ acted as if nothing happened.  
  
Nami’s high-pitched voice startles her out of her thoughts as she keeps chasing after the blond, who in turn runs much slower than he could, just so that she can catch him from time to time. “ _C’mon_ , _Sanji-kun_! _Just one shoooot_!”, she shouts, panting as her fingers finally close around the backpack’s hip belt. “I know you’re keeping _sake_ in there… _Girls_ , _help_!”  
  
She rushes into motion, extending one leg as the chef bolts in her direction. Sanji stumbles, pausing long enough for Nami to finally catch him. “One shot, _Sanji-kun_ ”, she repeats, wrapping both arms around one of his and looking up at him with pleading eyes, so he freezes into place and just stares back at her, mesmerized. Kaya is starting to feel like the awkward third wheel in this exchange… “ _Please_ ”.   
  
“Fine”, he lets out a shaky breath, and she releases her hold on him to clap her hands excitedly. “Just one. We don’t want to disrespect Ryo-chan by showing up late to her restaurant”.  
  
“One”, Nami promises, sticking out her tongue at him before gingerly circling the boy and unzipping his backpack. “Guys, let’s have a toast!”  
  
When Kaya offers to fetch Robin and Zoro, they are the only two people that are yet to stand up and join the crowd around Sanji apart from Usopp, who didn’t follow her when she stormed away.  
  
_Shouldn’t I be worth the effort_?  
  
The last time she saw the pair they were still sitting on the grass, so that’s where she first looks for them.  
  
Turning around, she notices they are still sitting there, only they don’t seem to be listening to what’s going on around them. Kaya narrows her eyes, noticing two things: her boyfriend is no longer sitting on the blanket, actually he’s nowhere within her sight, and then…  
  
Is that? Are they… _holding hands_?  
  
She stands on her toes to take a better look, but suddenly two warm hands settle on her waist, and a gentle kiss is placed on top of her head. Usopp then rests his chin on it, and Kaya can imagine the mischievous smile he must be sporting as he probably stumbles upon the same… _surprise_ she has just discovered.  
  
“Zoro and Robin, _uh_?”, he mutters, as his arms now wrap around her shoulders. He bends his neck on one side, so that his mouth his aligned to her ear, “I’m sorry, babe”, he whispers, squeezing a little tighter.  
  
Kaya stiffens. “What for?”   
  
“Earlier”, he gulps. “I just… I know it’s not an excuse, but I’m a lot closer to the boys and, _err_ … I don’t think I would have fitted as nicely as you do in the all-girls group. It was selfish of me, I know that, but I thought this trip was meant to be an occasion for everyone to have fun, and you always have fun with Nami and the others… I don’t know, I guess I thought it’d be okay since we were just visiting a temple…”  
  
She listens patiently as Usopp explains his reasoning. She can’t say she agrees with him, but at the same time she’s aware that Nami tends to be a little too rough on him, he and Vivi aren’t too close and he’s downright terrified of the newest addition to the crew. Robin’s too… _morbid_ in her thoughts for his taste.  
  
“I’m not leaving your side again”.  
  
“That’s fine, Usopp”, Kaya sighs.  
  
They’ve been together for almost three years, he has proved his love _so_ many times, albeit in his unusual, quirky way… She shouldn’t feel so insecure. It’s perfectly normal that they go their separate ways for two hours since they are on a trip with friends, and they did spend the rest of the day together so far.  
  
Maybe she should just let it go…  
  
“You’re allowed to have fun without me”, she says, finally returning the hug. “Just, maybe come give me a kiss every once in a while, _mh_?”  
  
Three years and her face still burns when she allows herself to be vulnerable with him, but at least this time he’s standing behind her, so he can’t see her blush.  
  
“Sure”, he nods, using his hold on her shoulders to twirl her around and kiss her tenderly. “I love you”, Usopp smiles when they pull away.  
  
“I love you, too”.  
  
They resume their previous position, and Kaya glances down at the pair on the grass again. They _are_ holding hands. Usopp chuckles, ruffling her hair. “What are we watching?”  
  
“I’m not sure”, she laughs. “But I’m sure they’ll tell us when they feel like it. If they don’t, I’ll get Nami on their case. I was supposed to call them, but I feel so bad at the idea…”  
  
“I think it’d be better if _we_ interrupted them”, Usopp retorts, although he, too, would rather leave them be. They look very happy as they stare into each other’s eyes with similar grin on their faces, touching the other casually as they sometimes scan their surroundings to see if they are being watched. Zoro’s eyes finally spot them, so he urges her, “At least we’ll pretend nothing’s happening”.  
  
“Everyone else would tease them to death”, his girlfriend concludes, plastering a big grin on her face and waving a hand at the two as she starts walking in their direction.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Robin, Zoro!”, Kaya calls out, “Nami sends me to tell you we have _sake_ over there”.  
  
The swordsman hesitates for a moment before snapping back into character, standing up quickly at the mention of his favorite drink.  
  
What’s not so in character, however, is the hand he offers to the dark-haired girl, helping her standing up. Zoro is not rude or disrespectful to women by any means, but this is the kind of unnecessary gesture only Sanji would pull off, unless…  
  
Usopp does that for her.  
  
“You should come before the crazy guide returns and tries to get Luffy drunk…”  
  
The four make their way back to the rest of the group, where a cup has been already filled for them.  
  
By the point everyone is ready, they have already forgotten someone was supposed to make a toast. Robin only brushes her lips against the clear liquid, then hands her glass to the swordsman.  
  
Kaya gulps down hers, although she’s not a big fan of sake, then watches, amusedly, as Nami blackmails Sanji into pouring everyone another round.  
  
The chef is all too happy to comply and go back on his word when the girl plants a kiss on his cheek.  
  
“So, the toast?”, Chopper pipes up.  
  
He doesn’t like the idea of a third cup one bit.  
  
“Oh, right!”, Nami stammers, noticing that all eyes are on her. “Hey, don’t look at me! I just wanted the sake! Captain’s the one who should give a speech”.  
  
Luffy scratches the back of his head, deep in thought, before raising his glass and grinning at his friends. “Uh, I guess… I’m very happy we’re here together, Mystoria rocks, let’s kick some ass on Halloween and… _I love you_ , guys”.  
  
He gulps down his shot, before inviting the others to do the same.  
  
“Now let’s go eat!”

* * *

The walk back to the hotel doesn’t take too long.  
  
A bit longer than it probably should, as it’s all downhill, but not so much than they don’t have enough time to get ready and get to the restaurant.  
  
Now, the Midnight Oyster is not as close to their hotel as they thought.  
  
The only way to reach it is through a twenty-minutes-stroll on the beach, which forces the entire group to remove their shoes, but when they finally get to the place, which is nested between the woods and the sea, no one dares complaining about its accessibility.  
  
The restaurant is beautiful, with a wooden patio littered with white tables, there are candles everywhere.  
  
Someone’s playing a beautiful tune on a violin, and a member of the staff, dressed elegantly, immediately greets them at the front door.  
  
Their food is great, the kitchen industrious enough to satisfy even Luffy’s appetite; after dessert they are invited to move inside, to the bar, where Benn shows up again.  
  
Sadly, Alvida is there, too, sitting by herself at the counter.  
  
Everyone pretends not to see her.  
  
They drink whatever they please free-of-charge, which brings out the worst in Nami and Zoro, but around ten she former suddenly pushes them out of the door, paying the meal by herself without battling an eye, which she’d _never_ do if she were sober, and urging them back to the hotel.  
  
“I want to check out the stalls we saw on our way here”, she justifies when her motives are questioned.  
  
It’s not a lie, but not the reason she wants the whole group back to the hotel.  
  
Nami has set up a little surprise for later, which, _of course_ , she got a forty percent discount for, so it’s too early for people to get drunk.  
  
They split up in smaller groups just like they did on their way here.  
  
Nami spends the first half of the way walking with Sanji, who offers to carry her purchases, then excuses herself from the chef, asking him to leave her bags to the concierge when they get to the hotel, and runs to Robin, who’s a little ahead of her, talking animatedly to Chopper as they stand by the cotton-candy booth.  
  
Nami taps her shoulder, smiling innocently at her dark-haired friend.  
  
“Mind if I join you?”  
  
“Of course not”, Robin shakes her head. “Do you want some cotton-candy?”  
  
“You should try it, Nami”, Chopper pipes up, grinning. “It’s delicious!”  
  
“I’m sure it is, but I think I’ll pass”, she declines. “Maybe some other time”.  
  
“What brings you here, Nami?”  
  
There’s a pleasant smile on Robin’s face. She looks a little more light-headed than usual, although she’s the only person who’s still completely sober this evening.  
  
She just seems… _happy_?  
  
“Actually, I just wanted to talk to you”, she admits, anticipation running through her veins as her friend’s eyes widen. “I’m just curious about something…”  
  
She glances down at Chopper, who’s a couple inches shorter than her, long enough for the younger boy to pick up on her subtle hint. He takes another bite of his cotton candy, then trails away in Franky’s direction.  
  
“ _So_ , what’s up?”, Robin asks her, eyeing strangely the cotton-candy which the woman behind the counter now hands to her, paying for it before she speaks up, “What are you so curious about?”  
  
Nami smirks, evilly. “ _Oh_ , I was just wondering what you and Zoro were talking about earlier. On the grass”.  
  
Her suspicions are further increased when Robin’s cheeks take a slight pink shade, but she doesn’t slip and ultimately keeps her mask in place.  
  
“Zoro wanted to know how the legend ended, since Luffy dragged them out of the temple before they found out…”, she replies, carefully.  
  
“Is that strange?”  
  
Robin’s attitude would perhaps fool another member of the crew, but not her. Something’s cooking.  
  
“Very much so. That’s not like Zoro at all…”, Nami trails off. It’s finally time to settle down an old score, and she recalls one the first conversations they have ever had, “It’s a pity you’re not interested in boys”, she notes, “He sure does anything in his power to get a chance to talk to you”.  
  
The only reason she hasn’t questioned her best friend about his sudden interest for their new classmate is that she knows he would probably refrain from pursuing Robin if she encouraged him.  
  
So, she has been waiting, patiently, observing them from afar.  
  
They’re _good_ , because she doesn’t have solid proof there’s something between them.  
  
They just have this weird chemistry...  
  
“Well, Swordsman-san surely is… _riveting_ , but I don’t think it’s strange that he asked _me_ , since I’m technically the history-nerd around here”. Robin won’t give her more than a half truth, but it’s better than nothing. She can work with that.  
  
She can just push them together later and see how they act around each other. They looked very… _snug_ on the grass earlier.  
  
“Is that everything, Nami-san?”  
  
“For now, _yes_ ”, she teases. “We should be at the hotel soon”.  
  
“Are we planning on going out again later or?”  
  
“I think we’ll decide when we get there. Tell the others to hurry, _please_ ”, Nami urges her, paling as she looks down at her screensaver.  
  
She wants to arrive before anyone else to make sure everything has been arranged as she asked, but she should have been there, _well_ , _now_.  
  
“I just need to get a warmer jacket”.  
  
Robin blinks at her, but ultimately agrees. Wasn’t she in a hurry, her orange-haired friend would question her about the strange way she’s _trying_ to eat her cotton-candy.  
  
She is barefoot once more, although this time her shoes are tied to the strip of her shoulder bag, and she starts running in the direction of the hotel.  
  
People often says she’s cold-hearted and greedy, and to some extent that is true, but Nami loves her friends just as much as money.  
  
Next year they’ll be shipped off to different universities, this could be the last time they are all together like this, vacationing in a beautiful place like Mystoria… She just wants to make it special, there’s not a single bad thing about that.  
  
Especially if she’s not the one paying.

* * *

Robin glances at the familiar strands of orange hair as her friend starts retreating. She tries to peel off a small amount from the pink heap like she has seen Chopper do, but the substance makes her fingers sticky, and she’s not quite sure how to proceed from there.  
  
She brings her thumb to her mouth, idly, as her other hand precariously holds the rest of her treat. She’s astonished when the sugar just melts inside her mouth.  
  
So, here is she is… Eighteen and eating cotton-candy for the first time, standing next to her first… _boyfriend_.  
  
Her mind is still spinning from earlier, when he threw her off her chair ( _well, metaphorically_ , as they sat on the grass…) with the sudden commitment to her. Maybe it’s still surreal because he asked as they were surrounded by the others, so she had to whisper her answer to him (“ _Yes, Zoro, I’d like to be your girlfriend_ ”) and they haven’t kissed since the awkward exchange in her room.  
  
Maybe then it’ll feel a little less like some wild dream she’ll eventually wake up from.   
  
The girl has had a great night so far.  
  
She can’t remember the last time she has felt so great for so many consecutive days. She’s been walking on sunshine since Wednesday at least, when he showed up to her apartment for dinner after his training and they spent the evening together; it’s like her problems, which aren’t exactly tiny, have been all paused.  
  
She adores these people, not just her green-haired... _lover_.  
  
The Straw-Hats, all of them, aren’t just the friends she has always secretly wished for, they are also the family she didn’t know she needed.  
  
Well, she has Saul, but it’s not like he’s around very often…  
  
“What happened to your cotton-candy?”  
  
“ _Eh_?” Robin looks up from the spot on the ground she has been unknowingly keeping her focus on, finding her right hand sucked into the sugary treat and a smirking Zoro standing in front of her, hands in the back pocket of his jeans. “ _Oh_ , I… I was thinking”.  
  
He tilts his head on the side.  
  
“Is everything okay?”  
  
“ _Sure_ ”, she smiles, “I just got a little distracted. I’ve never had cotton-candy before”.  
  
“How is that even possible?”  
  
“I guess they just didn’t have it in the desert”, Robin shrugs. “Back in Ohara, on the other hand, I guess I just didn’t have someone who would do that kind of thing with me. My mom’s job kept her very busy…”   
  
Zoro hesitates. “What about Aokiji?”  
  
He wears a white button-up and military green, cotton dress pants. He looks very handsome tonight, so much so that it takes a little while for her to register his words.  
  
“He was there, _I guess_ ”, she sighs. “But most of the time we spent together was in our library, and even when we did leave the house, he wasn’t the kind of man who stopped for cotton-candy”.   
  
“My dad isn’t that kind of man either”, the boy muses, although his laugh is a bit forced.  
  
Robin sees what he’s trying to do here.  
  
“Anyway, I’ve got an idea”.  
  
“ _Mh_?”.  
  
“You should write down a list of all the stupid things you didn’t do before coming here, like cotton-candy. I’d be happy to help you check those boxes”.  
  
“ _Wow_ , that’s… That’s actually a _great_ idea, Zoro”, she beams. “I’ll think about it”.   
  
“ _Oi_ , what’s with the tone of surprise?”  
  
She laughs, quietly. It’s a contagious sound. “We should start moving now. Nami was quite adamant we all return to the hotel as soon as we can…”  
  
“Yup, I’ve been wondering what’s up with that”, the swordsman chuckles. “Do you know why she asked us to bring our swimsuits, at least? Didn’t we plan to go to the beach in the morning?”  
  
She doesn’t know what that’s about either, but one thing is sure: she’s _not_ taking a dip into the ocean, not tonight, not tomorrow morning.  
  
They start walking, sinking their feet in the fresh sand. By the time they reach the hotel, Robin has finished her cotton-candy.  
  
Stepping into the lobby, they immediately notice their friends in front of what has already become their meeting spot, so they stop holding hands and go stand by their side as they all wait for Nami to show up.  
  
“Robin- _chwan_! I’ve been missing you”, Sanji swoons.  
  
The girl can’t help it but giggle when she hears the muttered curses coming from the green-haired boy next to her.  
  
“My poor Robin- _chwan_ , subjected to the company of that shitty _marimo_ …”  
  
He probably didn’t mean to say the last part, as the words come out in a hurried, almost incomprehensible slur, but Zoro hears him anyway, because he soon retaliates.  
  
“What did you just say, _dart-brow_?”   
  
Before the quarrel between the two can escalate any further, Vivi fetches Sanji’s arm whilst Robin does the same with Zoro, dragging the two in opposite directions.  
  
Luckily, Nami finally returns.  
  
“Here I am, guys!”  
  
“What took you so long?”, Luffy inquires, “Can we go out now? I’ve seen a hot-dog stall on our way here”.  
  
“ _Oh, My, God_. Can you focus on something that’s not food for five minutes or so?”, she retorts, incredulously.  
  
The captain’s appetite is legendary, but this is crossing the boundaries of human decency. With all that he ate at the Midnight Oyster, one would think he’d calm down for at least a couple of hours…  
  
“Now, for those of you who aren’t a _trash_ - _can_ …”  
  
“Can you tell us why we got back to the hotel in such a rush? I was telling Beckman-san about that time I went to the zoo and the lion’s cage opened…” Usopp may be the one who interrupts her, but a quick glance around her signals that everyone else agrees with him. Her friends don’t look too _friendly_ as they stare back at her, mad that she cut off their fun earlier so that they could rush back to the hotel, “…It was _hard_ , but a brave warrior like myself couldn’t let it maim the children, so I had to step up to the challenge…”  
  
“If you’ll guys follow me…”, Nami says, knowing only Chopper is paying attention to their friend’s words.  
  
“I took the liberty to organize a little private party for us upstairs. Since we never celebrated either my birthday or Kaya’s and everyone knows we’ll have to focus on the race once we get back home…”  
  
Robin feels somewhat reassured now that she knows they won’t be going for a dip in the ocean anytime soon – it seems they will be staying at the hotel for the foreseeable future; she’d rather spend the rest of the evening with her friends than meddling with strangers outside, so she actually looks forward to the party Nami just mentioned, _but_ …  
  
“What do we need the swimsuits for?”, asks Vivi, matching her thoughts.  
  
“Just be a little patient, my friend”, the other chuckles, leading the way to the elevators.  
  
There she instructs the group to split in two and tells the people who won’t be riding it with her to wait for her on the sixth floor.  
  
Their rooms are all on the third, so she gets another round of questioning looks.  
  
“Trust me, okay? I know what I’m doing”.

* * *

Once they are all standing in the sixth floor’s corridor, a little giddy but overall _contained_ still, Nami drags them to the end of the hallway, where she takes a right and proceeds straight until she reaches a glass-door, behind which a small lobby has been decorated in white and gold, with glitter everywhere, and on the counter where people normally book their treatments, ten fluffy bathrobes are waiting for them, their names beautifully sewn on the fabric.  
  
“Where are we?”  
  
She picks up the bathrobe with her own name before addressing her friends, “We are renting the spa for tonight”, Nami shares, glad that they’ll finally stop pestering her with questions. Why do they have to make a _surprise_ so hard? “We have music, alcohol, inflatables… Before you ask, Luffy, _yes_ , there’s food, too… There’s also a heated pool, so that’s why I’ve asked you to bring swimsuits with you. I didn’t want to lose too much time going back to our rooms to change. It’ll be faster if we use the locker-rooms”.  
  
“Uh, Nami…”, Usopp deadpans. “I think I’ve forgotten mine”.  
  
“Yes, you did”, Kaya rolls her eyes, but then pecks his cheeks affectionately, producing a pair of swim-trucks from her handbag before dangling it in front of him.  
  
“Here you go, _babe_ ”.  
  
Nami eyes them for a long second.  
  
She could tell they argued this afternoon, but they seem perfectly normal now, just as in love as they always are. She wonders if she’ll ever find someone who’ll put the same smile on her face as Kaya’s, but she doubts it. She has given it a try once, and it nearly _broke_ her.  
  
“For any further inquiries, wait for me at the pool. It’s just behind that door”, she instructs, before she starts to make her way to the women’s locker-room.  
  
She can hear Sanji clapping his hands excitedly in the distance, which makes her frown slightly: Nami _adores_ this boy, really she does, but he has about the same amount of maturity and restraint an eight-year-old would have when “ _girls_ ” and “ _bikinis_ ” coexist in the same room as him.  
  
He’s messy, loud, rude… She gets kind of… _snappish_ when he looks at other girls, she would hate it if the night she planned was ruined because he’s staring too much at Vivi or Robin.  
  
He wouldn’t dare ogling Kaya, or else Usopp would probably kill him, but what stops him from trying to hit on one of the other two? Alcohol has a strange effect on Sanji, it’s like he blurts out every thought which crosses his mind.  
  
She can hear her friends as they start moving behind her, splitting in two groups, so she shakes the thought away and finally enters the locker-room, where she places herself in front of the mirror.  
  
Robin, Vivi and Kaya shuffle quickly inside the room, closing the door behind them.  
  
“That was such a cool idea, Nami”.  
  
“Yeah, I can’t believe you put together all of this on your own. Just… _when_?”  
  
“I asked the hotel’s staff if we could set it up and they just charged us accordingly. Like I said earlier, I’ve missed you guys on my birthday. This way, I get to celebrate it with our new friend as well”.  
  
There’s a blush on Robin’s face upon hearing her words, but Nami was expecting it.  
  
The two have been friends for little over a month, but she has figured out by now that she’s still struggling to truly feel like part of the group; she hasn’t shared much about her past, so Nami can only guess… but it seems she didn’t have many friends at her previous school, it’s like she’s thoroughly shocked every single time someone is nice to her.  
  
It feels a little… extreme.  
  
Nonetheless, she wants her to know that she can count on the Straw-Hats, or at least on her. Most of Nami’s friends happen to be men, but somehow the two of them just click, in the same, inexplicable way she can’t imagine her life without Vivi or Kaya.  
  
New Marineford is a pond of hungry sharks, it’s rare to come across people who don’t want something out of you that’s not your friendship.  
  
“Happy birthday, Nami-san”, Robin finally replies, as she starts to peel the beautiful purple dress off her body. “What's the day? I’ll make sure to buy you a gift next year”.  
  
“It’s the third of July, but don’t worry, every year I make a list and I share it in the group chat…”  
  
Kaya is the first to put on her swimsuit, a burnt yellow two-piece with little, blue flowers doodled on the fabric. It’s a little more on the risky side than what she typically wears at the beach, but she bought it last summer and her boyfriend really seemed to like it, so she hopes it’ll have the same effect tonight.  
  
“Are you trying to kill Usopp?”, Nami giggles, eyeing her friend.  
  
She has put on a bit of muscles since the last time she has seen her so undressed, it suits her.  
  
Luckily they have Chopper with them, who can give her boyfriend first aid, because the poor guy is bound to have a heart-attack once he realizes his gorgeous, half-naked girlfriend is in the same restricted space as Sanji…  
  
Nami shakes her head, trying to dissipate the thought. No, she won’t allow her stupid interest for the overly-flirtatious chef to turn into bad feelings towards her friends; yes, all three of them are beautiful and she can see why he’d happy to see them in a swimsuit, but so is she, and it’s not like she can gauge his eyes out…  
  
“Nah, not kill him. Just torture him a little”, Kaya approaches her, now clad in the soft bathrobe, then taps her finger on her makeup-wipes. “Mind if I borrow one? I didn’t know there would be water involved…”  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Robin flinch.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
She never told her why she looked so distraught after saving Chopper at Basil’s birthday party, but it’s clear now that something scares her terribly about swimming.  
  
“It’s okay if you don’t want to go into the pool, there's other things to do…”  
  
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I’ll find something to keep myself occupied”, the dark-haired girl reassures her. “You weren’t at Luffy’s house that night, so I wouldn’t expect you to know… It’s just, a river was involved when my mother died, so I tend to stir away from swimming pools and the like”.   
  
Nami truly doesn’t know what to say.  
  
Maybe she shouldn’t have been so secretive about it, and the others would have told her about Robin’s issue. She could have come up with something else, or at least be better prepared to approach the subject…  
  
“I am _so_ sorry”, she says.  
  
“It’s not your fault”, Robin smiles at her, and it’s a genuine one. “You didn’t know and, like I said, it doesn’t even matter. I’m sure you’re throwing a great party behind those doors”.  
  
It’s another five minutes before all four have put on their swimsuits and removed the makeup they had put on before going out for dinner. Nami has now forgotten about her previous concerns, she only wants to have a good time with her friends – if Sanji will act unpleasantly, she’ll just remove herself from the equation and talk to someone else. Deep inside, however, she really hopes he doesn’t.

* * *

Their male counterparts reach the pool area five minutes earlier, so Sanji is already in the water with the others when the door opens again and four angels walk inside.  
  
Left to right, he can’t believe what magnificent beauty is now filling the room, what dazzling rays of sunshine…  
  
Vivi comes out first, donning a blue and white bikini with ruffled edges, followed by Kaya, but he tries not to linger over her yellow-clad body, and Robin, whose swimsuit is unsurprisingly black, but more revealing than his poor brain can handle… Nami comes out last, freezing him into spot as his eyes turn into hearts.  
  
Her two-piece is red, tight and _everything_ the lovesick chef fantasizes on…  
  
The fabric clings to her curves, and he might as well die now, because he can only be in the presence of the highest hierarchy in heaven, that’s how magnificent Nami- _swan_ looks, even as her eyes narrow imperceptibly when she spots him.  
  
Usopp runs out of the pool to greet his girlfriend, whilst Luffy moves past Kaya to grab Robin’s arm, then dragging her to the spot where he told Chopper to wait for him.  
  
“W-What’s happening?”, she asks.  
  
He only stops when all three of them are standing in front of the jacuzzi, which is already turned on and bubbling enticingly.  
  
“I figured you and Chopper wouldn’t want to go there”, he admits, pointing at the corner of the pool where Franky and Zoro were playing with a volleyball.  
  
He laughs when the swordsman turns around, seemingly looking for something ( _what_?) and doesn’t notice the ball flying in his direction, which then hits him in the back of his head.  
  
“So, the three of us are staying here, where the water is under four feet and I’ll be there to catch you if something goes wrong”.  
  
Luffy enters the jacuzzi first, then offers his hand to Robin.  
  
She’s moved by the gesture to the degree she doesn’t battle an eye upon submerging herself up to the chest, resting her arms on the back of the tub so she has something solid to hold on to. She can stand up and leave whenever she wants.  
  
“Let’s do this, then!”, says Chopper, cheerfully.  
  
His lessons with Garp are going rather well, or so he thinks, but he still doesn’t feel ready for the big-kids-pool, although he knows his friends would never let anything bad happen to him.  
  
He gingerly props one foot inside the warm water, then another, until he’s settled in front of one of the jets, which quickly causes him to let out a moan of pleasure. “ _Ah_ , I _love_ this”.  
  
“I have to admit, this is quite nice…”, Robin concedes, as her shoulders are slowly released from all the tension that was sitting on them.  
  
“Thank you, Luffy. I appreciate it”.  
  
“You don’t have to thank me”, the captain laughs it off. “ _Any time_ ”.  
  
From the other pool, Nami’s voice raises imperiously. “I want a drink!”  
  
They can hear Sanji rush out, promising her one, while the others start shouting their requests, too, mistaking him for a bartender, to the point that there are too many glasses he’s supposed to bring back, so he just puts ten plastic glasses in his pocket, balancing a handful of bottles in both hands as he makes his way back.  
  
He sets everything down on the side, where he then starts mixing the different liquids.   
  
Chopper eyes the pink-colored bottle with lust, knowing the liquor inside tastes just like his favorite candy.  
  
“I think I’ll ask Sanji if he’d be so kind as to make one for me, too…”, he mutters, standing up to temporarily leave the tub.  
  
“Do you guys want something?”  
  
“Just tell Sanji I want something with fruit, he’ll take care of the rest”, Luffy replies, before turning to Robin.  
  
She’s about to recline the offer, but he speaks up faster than her.  
  
“You’re having one drink”, he chastises, “You might as well choose something you like”.  
  
He has the stern expression of someone who won’t take no for an answer, so eventually she backs down.  
  
“Just one”, she repeats.  
  
Luffy’s frown morphs back into his usual smile once he gets what he wants, so he tells Chopper, “Ask for a strong one”.  
  
Robin sits quietly next to the captain as they watch their younger friend walk away, welcomed by the cheers and smiles of the rest of the crew.  
  
They’re close enough to see and hear what they do, but it’s like they’re hanging out in their own private bubble.  
  
_No time like the present, I guess_ …   
  
“ _Hey_ , Luffy”, she sighs, red-faced as she readies herself. Asking for his permission to tell Zoro about Trafalgar Law’s birthday cake seemed so badass earlier, when she accidentally baited the swordsman into asking her to be his girlfriend.  
  
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”  
  
“What’s up?”  
  
“Well, I… I was talking to Zoro earlier, and while we were discussing what that woman, Alvida, was trying to do to you today…”  
  
“What about it?”, Luffy stops playing with the bubbles to look up at her. “Did she try something with Zoro?”  
  
“What? _No_!”, Robin stammers, her blush deepening. “We were just talking about it, but from there the conversation went rogue, and I ended up mentioning that time you asked me to help you with the food-delivery app. He wanted to know what you ordered and for whom, but I told him I’d need to ask your permission…”  
  
“That’s an awfully long conversation you’ve had about me”, he notes, displaying finer observational skills than she expected. “Can I ask you something? If you answer, you can tell Zoro about the cake for Torao”.  
  
She chuckles, “ _Sure_ , I don’t see where’s the harm in that”.  
  
Leaning on her right arm, she turns to face her captain. It won’t be long before Chopper eventually returns.  
  
“What’s the question?”  
  
“Do you like him?”  
  
“ _Him_?”  
  
“Zoro… Because I think he likes _you_ ”.  
  
The words leave his mouth before he can stop them. Maybe this is what Nami means when she accuses him of being too impulsive.  
  
“ _Err_ , I mean– Maybe it’s just my imagination, but he’s different when you’re around”.   
  
“He asked me to be his girlfriend today”, Robin blurts out, suddenly looking as if the room is too hot for her.  
  
“Are you?”  
  
She nods. “ _Uh-uh_ ”.  
  
Robin looks away from him and at the other pool, searching for a familiar head of green hair. The swordsman is still playing his game of catch with Franky, but he’s standing on the opposite side of the pool now, so he notices immediately when the duo in the jacuzzi starts staring at him.  
  
“But we aren’t ready to let the whole group know, so I’d really appreciate it if you could keep our conversation private…”  
  
Luffy is quick to reassure her he will keep his lips sealed. The two barely have the time to switch to another topic before Chopper returns, only now he is not alone. Vivi and Zoro are trailing closely behind him, dripping water on the floor as they walk their way to the jacuzzi.  
  
“Do you have room for two more?”, Vivi asks, handing the captain his drink before sipping from her own.  
  
Zoro enters the tub without a word, accommodating himself in the empty space next to Robin and doing the same for her. They sit so close to each other it can only be a deliberate choice, but neither of them seems to mind it, so she moves her attention elsewhere and follows them inside the jacuzzi, resting on Luffy’s right.

* * *

“…Did it hurt very bad when you got that?”, Chopper asks, pointing at Robin’s ribcage. The sun and moon which blend into each other are nice and all, but that’s a very delicate area of the human body, it must have been so painful… “The tattoo”.  
  
“It was… _manageable_ ”, she replies, lifting her arm so that he can get a better look. Normally she wouldn’t so carelessly _flex_ her half-naked body in front of a classmate, but this is Chopper, and she feels as safe with Chopper as she would with one of the girls… or Franky. “I had been wanting one for years when I got it”.  
  
“You didn’t have it last spring”.  
  
Her outfit was quite revealing the night Robin rescued her from Crocodile, so Vivi is sure the ink arrived after that. It’s a very great design, and it suits her, she thinks.  
  
Noticing her friend looks uncomfortable, however, she hastens to add, “Is the artist from Alabasta or the New World?”  
  
“I got my tattoo in Alubarna, just before I left. Two days later, I moved to Grand Line City”.  
  
“Well, I think it’s very cool”, Chopper remarks, excitedly. “The person who did it is very talented…”, he trails off, knowing Robin would appreciate it if he changed the topic.  
  
She always draws back into herself with a sad face whenever her life before New Marineford is mentioned; he knows of that time only what she shared with the rest of the group, so _not much_ , but enough to determine that she’d rather talk of anything else.  
  
“What do you think, Zoro? You like tattoos, right?”   
  
The swordsman is taken a little aback when his name is mentioned.  
  
While _yes_ , he never hid his appreciation and finds them particularly enticing in women, he has been trying his best not to ogle at Robin’s left side, where the small tattoo is sitting right next to one of her boobs, and he’s having a hard enough time as it is: the girl who just agreed to be his girlfriend, whom he’s… _heartily_ attracted to, is lounging half-naked next to him, with just two small scraps of black polyester covering her more, _uh_ , private areas…  
  
He’s not blind, so he knew already that she’d probably be the death of him in a swimsuit, but imagination is one thing, an up-close look is another.  
  
The others’ presence hinders his possibility to reach out with a hand and see if the smooth, pale skin of her back feels as soft under his fingertips as he imagines.  
  
It doesn’t help that she’s smiling coyly at him, with one eyebrow mockingly arched up.  
  
She seems to know _exactly_ what’s going on in Zoro’s mind.  
  
“Yeah, what do you think, _Swordsman-san_?”, she provokes, twirling around in the water so that her left side is facing him.  
  
Everything just kind of… _bounces_ while she moves, and he gulps down the rest of his drink before glancing down at the design.  
  
Her arm is now covering the top part of her two-piece, which he’s grateful for until he notices that, in its attempt at concealing, her left breast is now being pressed against her chest, and Zoro gawks, red-faced, as it almost slips out of the small triangle that’s holding it.  
  
What’s worse, she doesn’t seem to be doing any of this in purpose.  
  
He’s just a pathetic loser who can’t look away…  
  
The air is filled with more awkwardness as each second passes without him uttering a word.  
  
Robin still smiles expectantly at him, while Chopper and Luffy are staring at him, waiting for his reply, and even Vivi looks up from her phone to follow the exchange.  
  
The swordsman clears his throat, “You’re right, Chopper. I like tattoos”, he nods, turning back to Robin and setting his eyes on her inked ribcage, trying his hardest not to follow the curve of her hips, knowing all hope of conserving his dignity will be lost if they ever end up on her bum.  
  
It is not that hard to focus on the tattoo when he reminds himself that there’s a reason if he antagonizes the _ero-cook_ so much.  
  
“The artist knew what he was doing”, he adds after a little while, finally returning Robin’s smile. “It looks great, it’s very… _three-dimensional_ ”.  
  
The tattoo _and_ her, but he keeps the last part to himself.  
  
He needs another drink. _Now_.  
  
“You didn’t like the _Institute_ very much, did you?”  
  
The dark-haired girl interrupts her eye-contact with the swordsman straight away, turning around sharply and sitting down in the tub once more.  
  
Vivi has a hesitant smile on her lips, but she doesn’t look as if she has any ill intent.  
  
Robin finally brings her golden paper cup to her lips, taking a generous sip of the cocktail Sanji mixed for her before she replies, “I… _No_ , I didn’t. To be fair, I don’t think I was in the right state of mind to like _any_ place back then. People were uptight, but _nosy_ , so I can’t say my experience was very positive”.  
  
“My cousin enrolled this year, but it doesn’t seem like she’s having a great time there. I was thinking…”, the princess pauses, gulping some more of her peach-flavored drink.  
  
“As someone who has an idea of how both schools are, would I be crazy if I told my aunt that she should send her to New Marineford next year? Whether they idolize or despise her, I’m afraid it won’t be easy for her to come across some real friends”.  
  
Robin doesn’t waver.  
  
“New Marineford beats the Institute, one-hundred- _fucking_ -percent”, she declares, although she then tries to provide some type of explanation. “The curriculum is better, it’s not located in the middle of the desert and the people seem a bit less… close-minded”, the girl lists, accompanying the gesture with her fingers.  
  
Her other hand still holds the cup, from which she sips before resuming, “…But ultimately it's up to your cousin. If she’s into art, then maybe the Institute it’s the better choice”.  
  
“Don’t you miss your friends there?”, inquires Chopper, naively.  
  
His question brings a bitter smile to her lips; while softened by his assumption, she can’t help but stare at the blue-haired princess again as guilt washes over here.  
  
“I don’t have friends I can miss”, Robin admits, “My mother had just died, and my step-father disappeared into thin air. I was alone in a new country with customs and traditions I didn’t know, so I can’t really say I ever made an effort to fit in… Regardless, by the time I grew tired of my loneliness, I already knew I wasn’t fond of the people I met at the Institute”.  
  
“What about… Crocodile?”, asks Luffy.  
  
There’s no hate in his face, only curiosity, but Robin still braces herself.  
  
If the truth comes out, she’s not sure they’ll still think very _highly_ of her.  
  
At the same time, she owes it to them. The Straw-Hats have welcomed her into their midst with open arms, no questions asked, no second thoughts allowed.  
  
If she really wants to consider them her friends from this point forward, she needs to be honest with them now. Underwater, Zoro’s hand wraps gently around hers.  
  
“He was the main… _Supplier_ of an acquaintance of mine. I had both money and a lot of time on my hands, so drinking on weekends slowly turned into popping a couple of pills here and there at clubs, and eventually my acquaintance introduced me to Crocodile… ”, she hesitates, looking up to gauge their reaction, but they only seem to wait for her to continue.  
  
Vivi has a frown on her face, although her hatred is directed at her kidnapper so far, and not at the girl sitting in front of her.  
  
“He was very creepy, so I never engaged him unless it was absolutely necessary. The night the princess and I first met, I didn’t even know Crocodile was the one throwing the party, not until I accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation he was having with his right-hand man, Daz Bonez, and found out he lured Vivi there with an excuse and locked her up in the basement. That’s how I knew where to find you…”  
  
Chopper is the first to recover from the brutal avalanche of information she has just dropped on them.  
  
His face is a mixture of worried and relieved, but eventually he sorts his thoughts out.  
  
“I’m glad that you’re with us now…”, he starts, but then his eyebrows furrow as he wonders what those pills she has just mentioned were made of. Surely, he doesn’t need to remind her how dangerous certain drugs are, “…And that you stopped trying to kill yourself”, he glares at her, before dropping the subject, “Isn’t that right, guys?”   
  
“We won’t let him get to either of you again”, Luffy speaks up, his voice laced with gravity.  
  
“Thank you for sharing, Robin”, his expression softens, and he smiles, “I really appreciate that”.  
  
“And I’ll never thank you enough for getting me out of there that night”, chimes in Vivi, who after the incident desperately tried to contact her, but never received a reply. “I’m not sure what would have happened to me or my family if you didn’t show up”.   
  
“Are you kidding me?”, Robin stammers, “If anything, I should have done something sooner”.  
  
_If only I wasn’t so high I couldn’t move_ – she thinks, still shameful in spite of their reassurances, or maybe because of them.  
  
The fact this crowd is so nice and prone to forgiveness, it makes her wonder what a wretched human-being like her is doing in their ranks.  
  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it from the very beginning. I hope you believe me when I say that I didn’t know what Crocodile was planning”.  
  
The last one is a point Nico Robin feels particularly strongly about, so much so that her voice breaks down a little. Zoro’s hold on her hand intensifies and their fingers intertwine, but whatever he’s about to say, she can feel his chest puffing out slightly as he takes a deep breath and opens his mouth, is interrupted by Vivi lounging forward at her, sneaking her arms around her neck to hug her.  
  
She’s shorter than her, so her wet hair dampens those parts of her body, like her upper cleavage, shoulders and neck, that didn’t come directly into contact with the water earlier.  
  
“But of course I believe you”, the princess whispers in her ear, so the other girl brings both arms – the swordsman let go of her hand the moment Vivi stepped forward – up and returns the squeeze.  
  
She’s surprised, but also glad that no one seems to hate her.  
  
Her friends really are _one of a kind_.  
  
Before the Institute she was always homeschooled, as she had had to follow her mother on her trips when she was very little, and even when Kuzan moved permanently into their home the arrangement didn’t change.  
  
She took advanced private classes at the Tree of Knowledge, but she was the only student in those, so she didn’t know many people her age.  
  
In Alabasta her schoolmates initially looked at her with pity, since the teachers were aware of her mother’s death and one of them one day let it slip during class, but eventually they lost interest in her until news broke of Vivi’s attempted kidnapping, and her name, included in several articles, started bouncing off the Institute’s walls once more.  
  
Only this time, as Robin’s association with Crocodile was well-known and she never bothered clarifying her involvement in the ordeal, people looked at her with contempt, others were downright rude, and a couple even pranked her in retaliation, turning her final months in the desert into a literal hell.  
  
Preoccupied by such thoughts, she hasn’t noticed that Luffy is now standing up, and inviting everyone else to do the same.  
  
“Group hug!”   
  
“…Have any idea what that is about, _Sanji-kun_?”


	17. Sweet Tooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Sanji finally takes a huge weight off his chest, Zoro has a _hard_ time controlling his reactions to his girlfriend's allure, and Nami drags the blond chef into a discovery that will startle them both.

The water is awesome, so is the booze. _Nothing_ , not the ambience, nor the company, would warrant such a bad mood on the boy’s part, but a certain someone has been avoiding him since the beginning of the party.  
  
_Nami-swan_ seems mad at him, although he can’t fathom the reason why. He has been a perfect gentleman for the entire day, or so he thinks, he didn’t even compliment Robin-chwan for her bikini…  
  
Well, not entirely out of chivalry, as Sanji could somehow sense that such an action would spark unprecedented rage in their resident swordsman.  
  
That _marimo_ can pretend all he wants, but the chef can read the tell-tale signs of a man in love, and Zoro checks all the boxes. While the fact she seems to reciprocate makes him question her taste, he wouldn’t be anything but happy if those two ended up together in the end.  
  
He may be a little overly flirtatious, and praise the female body more vocally than it’s really necessary, but there’s only one girl Sanji really thinks about when he’s alone, the one covered only by a tiny piece of red fabric as she sits by the poolside, drinking and watching over the rest of the group.  
  
Franky, Kaya, Usopp are still playing with the ball, but they pause from time to time to refill their cups.  
  
The blond glances back, in the direction of the tub, where the remaining Straw-Hats seem to be having quite the emotional moment, but his priorities lie elsewhere at the moment, because he can’t bear the thought of Nami-swan being mad at him, so he straightens up and starts walking towards her.  
  
His smile doesn’t falter when her hazelnut eyes widen; she’s not happy to see him approaching.  
  
Sanji makes a short stop, picking up a stray bottle of vodka that’s been left on the ground.  
  
Opening it, he swallows down as much as his mouth can handle before finally plopping down next to her. He dips both feet inside the heated pool, then offers the bottle to his friend.  
  
“I’ve noticed you finished your drink”.  
  
She accepts it, begrudgingly.  
  
“Thank you, Sanji-kun”.  
  
She has hoped she’d be a little more tipsy when she eventually faces him. Glancing down at the bottle, she can’t help but chuckle. _He hates vodka_.  
  
“What do you need the courage for?”, she inquires, before chugging down some of the clear liquid herself.  
  
“I’m just trying to have a good time like everybody else”, he shrugs, pointing at the people laughing in the pool. “What about you? Why are you here all by yourself? You’re the who made all of this happen”.  
  
“ _Me_?”, Nami splutters, returning him the bottle. “I’m fine. I planned on joining the others in the tub. I was finishing up my drink, but I just got caught up in my thoughts, I guess”.  
  
“What were you thinking about?”  
  
_You, Sanji-kun. You_.  
  
“What got you so distracted?”  
  
She stares blankly at him as he helps himself to a good three fingers of vodka and both his cheeks and chest are suddenly set up on fire.  
  
The flaming, widespread blush unfortunately drags her attention to features of his chiseled body she would rather not be reminded of, so she snatches the bottle back from him.  
  
“I was just thinking about the crew, how next year will be all going our separate ways. I’m excited about my future, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a life where I don’t get to see you guys everyday”, she admits.  
  
Well, in her mind the it all revolved more about a member of the crew in particular, namely the blond sous-chef sitting next to her, but Sanji doesn’t need to know that it’s _him_ who has been messing with her thoughts for quite some time now.  
  
Nami is not even sure she can pinpoint the exact moment her stupid crush has become something she can’t keep under check, but the time he fended off Eustass, or the evening it rained, when he took care of her when she was ill, the same day they fell asleep together on her couch and she wondered what his lips taste like, _well_ , those two events have definitely helped in rekindling some old feelings she thought she had moved on from a very long time ago…  
  
“I dread the day you won’t be the first thing I see when I get into class, Nami-swan”.  
  
It's nothing over the top for the blond cook, frankly she expected much worse, but his voice sounds _heavy_ , like that scenario really is one of the things that scares him the most in the world, and it makes her wonder if there’s some real depth to his devotion, if perhaps Sanji really pines for her in a way in which he doesn’t care about other girls.  
  
“How do you even do that, anyway?”, she giggles, lightly, tilting her head on one side to scrutinize his face. “It takes you five minutes to get to school with your car, how come I live on the other side of the city and I get there sooner than you every morning?”  
  
Nami stops him when he tries to bring his lips to the bottle once more, taking it away from him.  
  
He should slow down a little unless he wants to spend the rest of the trip with a terrible hungover.  
  
“ _Oi_ , give me back my courage”, he teases, reaching out with his hand to get the vodka back.  
  
“Only if you tell me what you need it for”, she retorts, sipping down on some for herself. The chef moved closer in his attempt to reobtain the bottle, and it’s starting to get a little bit too cozy… there’s goosebumps on her arm where his own brushed against it. “I’m all ears”.  
  
Sanji can’t help but feeling a little under scrutiny as the subject of his melancholy thoughts looks directly into his eyes with an inviting smile plastered on her perfect lips, waiting for him to finally yield.  
  
Just like a cat, her pupils grow larger as they settle on the prey. Only her curiosity never kills Nami, it’s a powerful tool in her hands, instead.  
  
Now that she has mentioned the finality of moments like the present, it’s like a countdown just started and he’s _already_ running out of time.  
  
“Let me drink first and you've got yourself a deal”.   
  
He half-hopes she’ll drop it, half-hopes she insists. There are only two possible outcomes: either she hands him the bottle, and by the time he is done he’ll be too drunk to care about things like consequences, or he continues on living the same way he did for the past four years, always wondering whether _it’s all in his head_ , whether he'll never be able to connect with someone else because he’ll always be stuck on this doubt.  
  
Without a word, Nami hands him the vodka. “So?”  
  
“Fine, I’ll tell you”, he concedes, drowning himself in the liquor first.  
  
If he’s about to face the biggest rejection of his life, after all, he might as well take something to help him manage the pain.  
  
“I dread that day because for the past five years I deliberately set out my alarm so that I could come into class after you, just so that I could step in and see you look up and smile at me with that wonderful morning face of yours. Look, Nami…”, Sanji pauses, uncertainly.  
  
He could be doing more harm than good by finally confessing his feelings to her, but something in the way Nami stares flabbergasted at him, her mouth slightly parted in surprise, lets him know that, just this once, he has her whole, undivided attention; he can tell he won’t get another chance, so he might as well risk it.  
  
“…I’ve been in love with you pretty much since the day we met. It took only one look in your direction to know that you were _it_ for me. I’ve tried to move on, like you candidly invited me to do during our first year, but it turns out that I can’t, not before I finally have this conversation with you”.  
  
“I… I don’t understand”, she protests, weakly. “Were you preparing for this?”   
  
“In a sense”, Sanji snickers. “I’ve thought many times about telling you, which words I should use and what your answer would be, but it doesn’t matter now. Every time I felt like I made some progress, you just… _pulled away_. Either you don’t trust I’m serious, or you don’t know how to reject me”.  
  
She really doesn’t know what to say. Partially, it’s both things.  
  
She’s aware of his charm and good-looks, of the fact he makes her laugh, or feel safe; Nami always knew the Vinsmoke prince would make a great boyfriend one day, when the right girl came around and he stopped flirting with every woman who crosses his path. She has never allowed herself to ponder whether she’d like to be that girl or not, it always felt… _pointless_.  
  
If Sanji wants her, why has he never made a move in that sense?  
  
“Rest assured, I will be your friend for as long as you’ll let me, no matter how you feel about this. But I have to know. Before we graduate, I have to know… So, _yeah_ ”, he pauses, taking a final sip out of the bottle before returning it to her. “I’d really like to see if this… _tension_ I feel around you should be pursued. Just think about it, okay? All I’m trying to say is that I’m an option in case you’re interested”.   
  
Her face feels very warm as she repeats his words in her mind, and so do the butterflies in her stomach.  
  
What Sanji just did took _balls_ , there’s no denying that – she wishes she was able to expose herself in the same way, throw her arms around his neck and kiss him without a care in the world, but she’s not.  
  
Nami smiles hesitantly, moved by the confession but still wary of the person who pronounced it.  
  
There’s a long list of reasons why he let her down in the past, acting like a _pig_ , an _idiot_ or _both_.  
  
She has paid more attention than she would ever admit last year when he was dating Viola; if Sanji fucked up a relationship with someone so perfect, where’s the guarantee that he’ll stick around if, and when, things get _messy_ with her.  
  
Nami knows she’s not the easiest person to date, or so Eustass repeated multiple times when they broke up, she wouldn’t want to lose him as a friend just because she foolishly tries to bite more than she can chew.  
  
The boy’s frown deepens as her silence grows longer.  
  
“I’d be lying if I said that I never entertained the thought, Sanji-kun. I _will_ think about it”, she promises, startled by the smile he shows her now.  
  
Pearly white teeth stare back at her as the corners of his mouth suddenly lift up, happiness blossoming on his entire face.  
  
“Nothing makes me happier than hearing those words, Nami-s _w_ an”, he chants, with a bit of a slur in his voice. Technically speaking, she’s surprised he’s still capable of stringing together such long sentences.  
  
He has a bit of a history of reacting poorly to spirits. His blush has calmed a little, but she can tell he is still quite nervous. Trying to diffuse the tension, she sneaks her free hand behind his back, pushing the defenseless boy into the pool. His reflexes are quite dormant, so Sanji can’t stop his fall, but he’s still vigilant enough to wrap one arm around her leg, dragging the girl into the water with him.  
  
The two re-emerge moments later, both laughing. She pushes her orange hair to the back of her head, grimacing as she notices the water that’s now mixed with her vodka.  
  
He has grabbed her so suddenly, she didn’t have the time to drop it, meaning she was still carrying it in her hands when she sunk.  
  
Nami lets it go upon realizing it’s no longer useful.  
  
“Shame on you”, she chastises, although she’s not mad at him.  
  
They have plenty more where that bottle came from, she doesn’t really care if what little remained of it has gone to waste.  
  
“Sanji-kun?”  
  
The water only reaches up to her shoulders, and about half of the boy’s pectorals, it really depends on how he moves, but he still looks as if he’s struggling to keep his balance there, so she playfully nudges him towards the poolside again.  
  
“Let’s go try that jacuzzi instead”, she offers.  
  
Usopp’s shot would knock him out if she didn’t see the ball jolting towards him out the corner of her eye, but other than that the two have no other impediments as they make their way out of the pool.  
  
Sanji’s a bit clumsy as he climbs out, but it’s not like she does a much better job in lifting herself up.  
  
Before walking up to the tub, they backtrack to recover a bottle of rum.  
  
Nami holds it up as they approach the rest of the Straw-Hats, surprised when she finds them all entangled in a hug. “Do you have any idea what that is about, _Sanji-kun_?” 

* * *

Zoro instinctively turns around when the familiar voice pipes up, but his smile dies as quickly as it has appeared when he spots the person standing next to his orange-haired friend.  
  
The pervert cook barely manages to put one foot in front of the other on his own, leaning on Nami for support. Normally he’d like nothing more than an opportunity to embarrass his rival, but he still hasn’t opened his mouth to let Robin know that she doesn’t need to _shiver_ when she pours out her heart for them.  
  
Her voice sounded small and insecure as she summed up her Alabastan experience, but the swordsman wants her to know that he’s here if she ever feels like talking about it, that he does not blame her for what happened to Vivi… if anything, he’s grateful she didn’t get hurt herself while saving their crewmate.  
  
He would say all of this and more if only the two of them could speak privately for a little, but it seems the jacuzzi is getting more and more crowded as time goes by, so he just surrenders to the idea that he’ll probably have to wait until the party withers down a little.  
  
He can’t believe she said “ _yes_ ”, that she agreed to be his girlfriend, to take such a small yet momentous step further in their relationship. Truthfully, it all still sounds a little surreal, seeing that it only happened one time before, and Tashigi never made him feel quite so… elated, at peace with himself _and_ the world.  
  
Luffy finally relinquishes his old on his friends to make room for Sanji and Nami. Once the latter two are inside, it becomes obvious that the jacuzzi has now reached maximum capacity.  
  
Vivi returns to her seat next to the captain, sliding closer to Chopper. Unfortunately, there’s still not enough space to accommodate the newcomers.  
  
Zoro is about to suggest they let curly-brow stand outside of the tub when he gets a better idea.  
  
Grabbing a handful of her hips, he pulls Robin closer until she’s sitting on his lap, before clearing his throat and throwing a lame, “Here, you can use me as your chair”.  
  
He’s not stupid, he knows that all eyes are on him now, that’s why he spoke loud enough for them to hear him in the first place. They still haven’t talked about revealing their new… _status_ to the rest of the crew, so he needs to act indifferently for now, although his latest gesture is very out of character of him already.  
  
Luffy has a roguish smile on his lips as he watches the scene unfold before his eyes.  
  
His best friend seems to already know what’s going on between the two, because he giggles without a comment, and suddenly he’s reminded of his earlier conversation with the girl.  
  
He can’t wait to find out who the lucky person who stole the captain’s heart is.   
  
“Oi, _moss-head_ ”, an annoying voice rises, “Remove your filthy hands from Robin-chan”.  
  
Sanji’s eyes glint threateningly under the artificial lights.  
  
_Red neck_ , _droopy eyelids_ , _puffing out his chest to look bigger_ … the signs are all there, two things are painstakingly evident about the blond: he is drunk, and he is looking for a fight.  
  
The raven-haired girl, however, doesn’t seem to like that plan, because she turns imperiously her head in his direction.  
  
“Don’t worry about me, Sanji-san”, she chimes in, her tone sweet but somewhat threatening.  
  
Zoro opens his mouth to tell the chef to _fuck off_ , but he can’t complain when she interrupts him again, because her words are accompanied by her arm wrapping around his shoulder as she adjusts herself more comfortably in his lap. “I am quite comfortable in my current location, but thank you for your concern”.  
  
“I bet you are”, chirps Nami, taking a swing from the bottle of rum before she passes it around. Vivi reaches out for it. “So, what have you guys been up to?”  
  
“Since Robin is in good hands, I am going to play with the others a little now”, Luffy stands up, glancing down at his friend as he exits the tub.  
  
She doesn’t seem to need his support anymore, but he hopes she knows that he’ll keep within reach.  
  
Robin only needs to shout if she needs his help.  
  
“I’m sure someone will bring you and Sanji into the loop, but don’t turn it into an interrogation… It’s a party, after all. We should have fun”.  
  
With that, he leaves.  
  
Zoro feels the girl in his arms stiffen as two sets of eyes land on her.  
  
Listening to her story he has felt a wide range of emotions, a strange mixture of anger and sadness; he can only begin to imagine what narrating it for a second time must feel like, but he sits through it again, holding her gently by the sides and rubbing his thumbs in a circular motion on the soft skin of her back.  
  
He can’t tell whether the gesture helps her or not, but it surely makes the blood of a certain chef boil.  
  
“…So that solves the mystery of why you don’t want to get _shit-faced_ with us”, is the valuable lesson Nami takes out of the story. “ _God_ , you must think I’m awful”.  
  
Robin blinks. “How are _you_ the awful person? You didn’t know… Because _I_ didn’t tell you”.  
  
“It doesn’t matter”, the other shakes her head, orange strands whipping wildly around her face. “I should have never been as insistent as I was. I am _so_ , so sorry”.   
  
“You didn’t know, Nami-s _w_ an!”, repeats her number one fan, clutching at his chest dramatically before he turns to the dark-haired girl with a more serious look.  
  
“It must have been hard to go through all that again…”, Sanji trails off with a kind smile. “Thank you for repeating your story for us, Robin-ch _w_ an _ **~**_ ”.   
  
“Look at the bright side”, adds Vivi, gulping down her share of rum somewhat ferociously before handing the bottle to Zoro. “If Crocodile goes back to his old business, it won’t be long before authorities start looking for him in the New World, too. Especially if his customer-base is made up of teenagers”.  
  
“ _Maybe_ ”, he hears Robin concede in a small voice.  
  
She doesn’t sound as optimistic, but that’s probably because she’s still sober and painfully aware of how serious the threat he poses really is.  
  
One of the reasons she agreed so heartily to move to Grand Line City, accepting _that_ man’s help even though she swore she’d never let him into her life again after he left, is that she knows Crocodile is the type of person that holds a grudge.  
  
“From what little was ever discussed in my presence, the whole family was involved”.  
  
“ _Parasites_ , all of them”, the princess spats. “They thrive on people’s misery. No one thought the droughts would be so bad when they started… My father has called experts from all over the country and dilapidated the crown’s assets to both finance the research and help the citizens survive in the meantime, but it’s taking longer than anyone could anticipate. We’ve had a decent amount of rain last year, so that’s good, but Crocodile’s family has feasted over the people’s poverty and malcontent for over ten years…”  
  
“If it’s any consolation, history is merciless with this type of characters. Eventually, the truth will come up…”  
  
Politically speaking, as someone born and raised in Ohara’s great democracy, she finds the idea of countries like Alabasta still clutching to their monarchies a little _preposterous_ ; even with such big cultural differences between them, however, she can tell how much the blue-haired princess genuinely cares about the people she feels it’s her responsibility to lead, besides, her father, the _Prudent King_ , as they call him, is a very moderate ruler, not crazy, belligerent or self-important, all things which Crocodile is.  
  
Nefertari Cobra, with his inaction and forgettable merits, couldn’t possibly run Alabasta worse than a _mobster_.  
  
“…I hope he gets behind bars just as much as you do”, Robin concludes.  
  
Her grip on his shoulders tightens as she beckons the bottle of rum from Zoro, raising it in Vivi’s direction before taking a long sip from it.  
  
The burning sensation in her throat is upsettingly familiar, but she ignores it.  
  
It’s not like the things she was addicted to are anywhere within her reach; alcohol was never the problem, it used to just set the stage for her to behave _poorly_ , using whatever she was drinking as an excuse to deliberately hinder her own safety.  
  
It was only when she pushed herself to the edge that she felt somehow alive, which is why she avoids it now.  
  
But she never questions her existence when she’s with the Straw-Hats, just the length of it, because it almost feels as if she forgot what living means before they barged into her life.  
  
They make her feel safe, they make her feel like she belongs… she can let go in their presence a little, can’t she?  
  
They’ve been accepting of her since day one and even more so tonight, when they are still by her side after hearing about one of the crudest experiences she ever had and not looking down at her in contempt like she expected.  
  
She helps Zoro take another swing at the bottle by holding it up for him, giggling to herself when notices the chef glaring at them with a hint of jealousy in his otherwise neutral expression.  
  
Robin, however, feels perfectly satisfied with her current location.  
  
Who knew a boy’s legs would be such a comfortable chair?  
  
Sure, there’s only some pretty thin layers of fabric between, so it was a little awkward to just rest her backside over his general crotch area at first, but now that the initial embarrassment has dissipated, and she is being swept off her feet by how nice these people truly are… the swordsman’s body underneath hers feels _right_ , comforting even. He’s like a human blanket she doesn’t plan on peeling off her skin anytime soon.  
  
Passing the rum to Chopper, although the aspiring doctor doesn’t seem to find it too riveting, she doesn’t even flinch when Nami speaks up again.  
  
“Are you happy you moved here?”  
  
The green-haired boy relishes as Robin presses her left side closer to his chest, leaning into his embrace as she takes a long moment to think about her answer.  
  
“ _Delighted_ ”. Her voice is low and melodious, a faint sound laced with emotion. “I’m really glad I’ve met you guys. _All of you_ ”, she adds as an afterthought.  
  
When she pokes his shoulder blade, lightly, Zoro feels like the small gesture is meant to set him aside from the rest of the group, as if he’s _special_ for her in ways she can’t convey with her words now.  
  
Chopper tears up a little. “We are happy, too”, he reassures her. “We couldn’t ask for a better addition to our group, or _I_ for a better desk-mate”. He drinks a small amount of the rum, noticing it is way less pleasant in his mouth than the strawberry flavored drink Sanji made for him earlier. “ _Blah_!”  
  
A hand swiftly snatches the bottle for him.  
  
“Let me take care of this”, the chef pipes up, swinging it, “To the sweet Robin-chan joining our band of misfits”, he declares, theatrically.  
  
The plan is to help himself to as much rum as he can gulp down in a single sip, but Nami-swan’s hand easily connects with the back of his neck in a chop motion.  
  
“ _Oi_ , Sanji- _kun_ ”, she scolds him, “Other people want to drink, too”. 

* * *

About ten minutes pass before people start getting tired of the tight space available inside of the jacuzzi. Nami demands Sanji prepares her another _Cosmopolitan_ , whilst Vivi and Chopper decide to make a small stop at the buffet table after they triple-check with Robin if it’s fine for them to leave.  
  
That leaves the dark-haired girl inside the tub with only the swordsman but, like she said, there’s no doubt he’ll be more than capable to ensure her safety, especially now that the others are virtually out of sight, and his grip around her has considerably tightened – _not that she minds it_ …   
  
_His_ judgment was the one she feared the most, so to say she’s relieved that he doesn’t seem to think she’s despicable and breaks up with her less than twelve hours after they got together would be a gross understatement. If anything, she’s feeling much closer to him now that Zoro is aware of the darkness clouding her past, even a bit light-headed as she realizes that he doesn’t seem scared by it.  
  
Maybe it’s just the alcohol talking in her place, that bottle of rum did find its way to her hands an awful amount of times, but she can’t stop the warm, fuzzy tightness in her chest.  
  
Is this what _falling_ for someone is supposed to be like? Like somehow you can _never_ get enough?  
  
Robin grudgingly pulls away from his embrace, turning around slightly.  
  
Sitting on his lap once more, her legs now resting on his sides, she uses his shoulders to prop herself up and spy on the others.  
  
The pool is now empty, with Usopp standing behind what looks a DJ-console and Franky and Kaya cheering for him nearby, now clad in their bathrobes.  
  
Chopper and Vivi are at the buffet table like they said they would be, along with the captain, who’s stuffing his face with food as he bangs his head back and forth according to the music, whilst Sanji and Nami are dragging the bottles scattered around the poolside back to the bar, where the chef soon jumps behind the counter, assuming the bartending position for the time being.  
  
For now, no one is looking _at_ or _for_ them.  
  
“Alone, at last”, she teases, returning her attention to the swordsman.  
  
His head is whipped on one side, his neck red, but it’s only when she lets her weight fall back on him that she can finally decipher the odd expression on his face.  
  
His dark eyes are narrowed, shadowed by his green hair, and he’s clenching his jaw, but those clues are not as obvious as the sudden… _hardness_ that’s now poking her groin. What was only a mild guess while they drank with the others is now an absolute certainty.  
  
Oddly, it feels much warmer than the water in the tub.  
  
“It seems you can relate to the way I felt this afternoon…”, Robin jokes, lifting a hand up to trail the contours of his chest, clavicles to navel, feigning innocence as she pretends to settle a little more comfortably on top of him with gentle sways of her hips.  
  
She’s mildly aware she’s playing _dirty_ , but she can’t bring herself to care, “…Are you fine, Swordsman-san? You seem… _flustered_ ”.  
  
Zoro throws his head back, groaning, “Are you trying to _kill_ me?”  
  
“Quite the opposite, actually”, she chuckles, sneaking both her hands around his neck.  
  
Then she leans in for a kiss, savoring each second of it: his arms wrap around her back, pinning her to his chest before they descend to grab a handful of her bum; there he gives a firm squeeze as he deepens the kiss, and by the time they pull apart for lack of oxygen Robin has long since stopped having coherent thoughts, feeling just as… _hot and bothered_ as he looked a couple minutes ago.  
  
“We should join the others at some point”, she notes, albeit grudgingly, without relinquishing her hold on him.  
  
“Yeah, we should”, Zoro convenes, right before he steals another kiss from her.  
  
This one his shorter, however, with barely any tongue involved, and the swordsman stands by his words when he cuts it off before things can escalate further.  
  
“But I need to ask you a favor, first…”, he utters, his cheeks firing up once more.  
  
Puzzled, the girl tilts her head on one side. “What do you need?”  
  
There’s a bit of a pout on her lips as she looks up at him with her big, cornflower eyes and _that_ , he grunts inwardly, is exactly what he needs her _not_ to do.  
  
“Just… Go sit there for five minutes or so, _please_ ”, he instructs, pointing at the side of the jacuzzi Vivi was occupying earlier. “I’d like to leave this tub with at least _some_ of my dignity still intact…”  
  
Robin’s teasing smile turns into a gentler one as she dutifully stands up and reaches the opposite end of the tub. There she rests her back on its border and slides down on her seat, until only her head, neck and the top of her shoulders are not submerged.  
  
She understands why he wouldn’t want to disclose his boner to the rest of the crew. She, too, is wondering whether the others will be able to tell something just happened to her, because she feels an inexplicable hotness all over, so she knows her face must be as red as tomato.  
  
Without a penis, it’s just easier for her to hide her arousal.  
  
“Take your time”.  
  
The swordsman looks away from her with an awkward smile.  
  
Silence lingers for a couple of minutes as he collects himself, or rather, Zoro thinks intently of any repulsive thing he can summon a mental image of, like the _ero-cook_ ’s eyebrows, until the problem in his swim-trucks deflates, but then his eyes are suddenly on her again, staring into hers as hard and absolute as steel.  
  
“ _Ne_ , Robin…”, he trails off, biting his lower lip, “…You know you can come to me if you need someone to talk to, right? I don’t ask questions because I don’t want to force you to think about it, but I’m here for you, okay? You’re not alone anymore”, the boy pauses, catching his breath, “Whether it’s me, or Luffy, or Nami, anyone in the crew. No one is going to slam a door in your face and refuse to help if you need us to…”   
  
She listens with widened eyes, surprised by the amount of thought he seems to have put into his words. For someone who usually speaks his mind carelessly, riling up people – _okay_ , it’s only Sanji – by merely asking what time it is, he’s surprisingly _smooth_ in the way he brings up the worst two years of her life once more.  
  
Robin truly doesn’t know what to say, staring back, dumbfounded, at the swordsman.  
  
The corners of his lips are curled up gently in a handsome smile, with the sight being so enticing that one blossoms on her face, too, as she ponders whether it’s heaven who sent him to her, or rather hell who sent her to him.  
  
Any time she thinks he can’t get better than he already is, there this gorgeous boy with inexplicable green hair goes and does something which, infallibly, amazes her.  
  
“You’re too nice to me”, she protests. “ _Honestly_ ”.  
  
Zoro laughs, a rolling, all-encompassing sound that throws additional gasoline on her already flaming heart.  
  
Just like her, he’s starting to show the first telltale signs of drunkenness, although they’re much subtler on the swordsman, who would look perfectly normal if only he wasn’t uncapable to stop smiling.  
  
“Nonsense”, he argues, and that’s enough for him to settle it.  
  
_Nothing is too nice for the nicest_ …  
  
Robin giggles. “I’m sorry, _what_?”   
  
_Wait… did I say that out loud_? _It sounded so much cooler in my head_ – he muses.

“ _Err_ , I… I was just saying that nothing is too nice for you, because you’re the _nicest_ ”.  
  
He knows his face probably matches the crimson shade of his swimsuit, but it’s pointless to cry over milk he has already spilt.  
  
“ _Cheesy_ , I know”, he adds, lamely. “In my defense, that was meant to be a _thought_ , not a sentence”.  
  
“It’s okay, Swordsman-san”, she reassures him with a playful wink. “I don’t mind it. It was only a matter of time before you admitted that Sanji’s preaching is rubbing off on you…”, the girl pauses, splashing some water directly on his face.  
  
His eyes don’t sting nearly as much as his ego does.

* * *

It’s two in the morning when the Straw-Hats decide to call it quits, thoroughly knackered by their previous festivities. They drank, they danced, they challenged each other to impossible quests and almost ruined the hotel’s property, having a great time whilst doing so; there’s no activity left for them to partake into.  
  
Talking doesn’t sound like a great idea, not when half the people are about to fall asleep and the other half has no filter, blurting out every little thing that comes into their minds.  
  
If they really want to go to the beach later in the morning and explore downtown Mystoria before their sail back to Grand Line City, then it’s best if they stop now, or else they’ll spend the second of their two-days trip in their beds, suffering from their hungovers.  
  
Nami doesn’t doubt that’ll be the case for some people anyway, but she’ll be damned if she lets the same fate befall upon her.  
  
Perched on one of the barstools, her eyes start scanning the room for survivors, but the first search doesn’t provide the positive results she is hoping for.  
  
Sanji has left his post behind the bar a long time ago and is now sprawled in the seat next to hers, in a state of semi-consciousness. Usopp is slumped _near_ the console, rather than playing music _on_ it, listening to the loud, dizzy chatter raising from the blonde girl sitting between his legs.  
  
Kaya has reached her limit and surpassed it abundantly tonight, but Nami is sure her boyfriend will eventually manage to get both of them back to their room.  
  
Moving her eyes to the left, she spots Franky, white bathrobe now drenched as he floats carelessly inside the pool.  
  
A little further on the side Chopper looks like he’s about to feel sick, receiving little to no aid by a drunk Vivi, who can only pat him sadly on the back as he drops the contents of his stomach inside of a now empty ice-bucket.  
  
Zoro and Robin are laying together in one of the lounge-chairs, or rather Robin is laying on top of Zoro who is in turn laying on the chair.  
  
After tonight, there is no _denying_ something is happening between those two; _what_ that is, exactly, she can’t tell, but she’s ready to grill the swordsman for information at the first opportunity that she gets.  
  
Now, however, there’s more pressing matters she must attend to, like getting everybody into their rooms before their allotted time in the spa is over.  
  
Finally, Nami finds Luffy helping himself to whatever food is left on the buffet table, munching down the different treats with a ferocity that’s even greater than usual. He seems capable of carrying himself to bed on his own legs, so she looks away from him and back at Sanji, who’s now breathing heavily, his eyes closed as his head hangs precariously on his hand, arm propped up on the counter.  
  
Is he falling asleep on her now?  
  
Her head is still spinning because of his sudden confession. How dares he, opening his mouth to pronounce such words? Is she really supposed to believe that he was in love with her all along? _It can’t be that easy_ …  
  
Poking him on the side, she whispers with unusual kindness, “Wake up, Sanji-kun. I’ll get you back to your room”.  
  
Lifting his arm to wrap it around her neck, Nami sways on her feet a little as the dead-weight of five feet and nine inches of boy is suddenly dropped on her. She grits her teeth, pushing with all her might in the opposite direction from the bar, until the two reach a spot from where she can easily talk to the whole group.  
  
“ _Listen up_ , everybody!”, she calls out, “We still have half an hour or so before the hotel’s staff needs us to clear out, but I am already _wrecked_ as it is, so I’ll just make sure this one…”, she pauses, pointing a finger at the blond head that’s currently nested in the crook of her neck, where Sanji seems to be taking a nap, “…gets to his room and then I’ll go to bed. Vivi, I’ll see you in our room. Everyone else, I’ll see you in the lobby around ten if you’re still up for that trip to the beach. Until then, be safe and please lend a hand if you stumble upon a desperate case”.  
  
It’s clear she’s referring to Sanji, but Nami still shakes him awake for good measure. She doesn’t have the patience right now to drag his entire weight by herself as he comfortably sniffs her hair.  
  
What’s up with that, _anyway_?  
  
It’s with egregious effort and a beginning of backache that the girl finally manages to get them to the third floor, still apologizing to the couple in the elevator whom they inconvenienced when the chef pressed the button to every single floor.  
  
Sanji has calmed down a little, in the sense that he no longer opposes her motions, but he’s still refusing to cooperate. He is acting like a child, but she’s not the tiniest bit _moved_ by the display.  
  
_Okay_ , maybe just a little… but only because his ocean eyes are very pretty and scrutinize her soul in ways which she didn’t think were possible.  
  
His hand trembles as it fumbles in his pocket for the key, and then on the keyhole, but eventually the door opens, and the room he shares with Zoro is revealed to her.  
  
It’s smaller than Nami’s, but similar in every aspect that matters. It contains two double-beds, just like her own, a giant, flat tv screen, a small living area and a magnificent view of Mystoria’s bay.   
  
“There you go”, she sighs, dropping him on one of the beds. She is way more confident in her stance now that she doesn’t have to support him, as she makes her way to the minifridge and picks up a small bottle of water from there. Opening it, she returns to the bed and sits next to Sanji.  
  
“Here, drink this”.  
  
The Vinsmoke prince accepts the offer with a dazed smile, looking at her through half-lidded eyes.  
  
His face is very pale, his lips chapped and purple-ish; he dangles his head as he leans back, propping his elbow on the mattress, looking every bit as crazy and somehow charming as he did earlier by the pool.  
  
“Thank you for taking care of me, Nami-s _w_ an”.  
  
His excitement is soon compromised by the sudden tug he feels in his throat, so without a second thought Sanji stands up abruptly and runs for the bathroom, stumbling in his own feet and almost knocking himself over when his right leg collides with the ottoman in front of the other bed.  
  
At first, once inside the bathroom he tries to splash some fresh water on his face, which doesn’t help, and then he crouches down in front of the toilette. His head feels impossibly heavy on top of his neck, it’s only a matter of seconds, he convinces himself, before it just drops off and starts rolling on the floor – _however_ , nothing of the sort happens; his mouth just opens, instinctively, just before the vodka jumps back into it and then outside, producing a loud _splash_ on the white ceramic as Sanji starts to gag. 

This is going to be a long, long night.

* * *

Loud footsteps, neon lights wounding her eyes even through tightly shut eyelids, the faint yet vigorous scent of neroli and saffron enveloping her as a set of arms carries her effortlessly… her perceptions may be limited, but they are all very intense, so much so that Robin surrenders to temptation and pries one blue eye open to take a long look at the swordsman.  
  
Her vision is less foggy than earlier, albeit still a little blurry, but she’s pretty sure they are nowhere near her room, or his, and her suspicion is confirmed once the number scribbled on a plaque on the wall confirms that they are not, _indeed_ , wandering the third floor, but the second.  
  
“The others were right about you…”, she teases, “…You do have the tendency to get lost”.  
  
“ _Tsk_ ”, Zoro scoffs, quickening his steps. “I just wanted to stretch my legs a little…”  
  
Robin giggles. “If you say so”.  
  
She was only pretending to be asleep, desperately trying to get a hold on her thoughts and emotions again.  
  
He has been carrying her around for longer than she probably realizes, because no one is around when they eventually stop in front of the door, the whole floor is silent.  
  
He lets her go when they get inside, and the coldness is sudden and extreme. She doesn’t remember putting the bathrobe on once more, so that must be Zoro’s handiwork, but the white fabric isn’t thick enough to keep her warm now that she’s out of the conveniently heated ambiance of the spa, so she shivers as her bare feet make contact with the cool wood of the floor.  
  
The small contraction of her spine isn’t missed by the boy, who quickly makes his way to the open travel-case that’s sitting on top of her bed, perusing its contents discreetly (and straying away from anything that’s either made of lace or in the shape of underwear) until he produces a pair of shorts and matching t-shirt that seem suitable for the occasion.  
  
They are black and yellow with small cats doodled all over, he can’t help but notice just how much his sister would like the design.  
  
Robin walks to his side just as he’s about to turn around, snatching the clothes from his hands.  
  
She puts on the shorts and then peels off her bathrobe, sliding into the kitten-themed, wavy shirt before undoing the knots on her hips, neck and below her shoulder blades, sighing contentedly as the wet, black fabric finally detaches from her body. She throws the swimsuit away and lets herself plop down on the bed, next to the red bag the swordsman just produced her pajamas from.  
  
Under normal circumstances she’d wait to be alone before slumping so mindlessly, but it’s been a crazy night, no, a crazy day; there’s more alcohol in her system than there’s been for quite some time, she didn’t realize just how much she let herself go at that party until her every breath turned into an unstoppable giggle, head spinning as her heart raced in her chest.   
  
She remembers this feeling, the stupid, inexplicable _elation_ methanol creates in her brain, playing with her senses like her perception is nothing but a fragile house of cards and abolishing her inhibitions.  
  
Robin just feels so safe with the Straw-Hats, especially the one currently in her room, she couldn’t find it in herself to refuse the glasses that were offered her, although she noticed Nami is keeping her word after their chat, refraining from insisting like she usually does.  
  
The only reason she doesn’t drink is that she doesn’t trust herself, but that doesn’t matter anymore.  
  
She found people she trusts _with_ herself, she knows they would immediately put a stop on it if she displayed any of the self-destructive tendencies she fell victim to in the past...  
  
Preoccupied with such thoughts, the girl doesn’t notice straight away that Zoro has closed the travel-case and removed it from the bed, or that he’s now sitting next to her on the mattress. There are two backpacks on his lap, his and Robin’s. He fidgets with the former until he retrieves a t-shirt and a pair of workout-shorts.  
  
She pretends to be asleep when he turns around, eyeing her unmoving form before getting up and making his way to the bathroom. She keeps her eyes closed, _still_ , when he returns two minutes later, his own swimsuit now clamped in his hand. Zoro puts away his belongings, then swiftly adjusts her in the bed, so that her head is now on the pillow. Covering her up with the comforter and placing a gentle, vaguely rum-scented kiss on Robin’s forehead, the swordsman is about to leave when a hand hastily reaches out to grab his arm.  
  
His eyes widen as hers shoot open, a light blush spreading on his cheeks when he realizes she wasn’t sleeping. He is extremely tired, with red, puffy undereye-bags, the skin there stretched so thinly Robin can count the small veins dotted over that portion of his skin.  
  
The ridiculous de-tour has pulverized whatever energies he had left. It wasn’t his fault, _of course_ , it’s the stupid hotel that should signal directions better.  
  
Zoro is used to lift barrels much heavier than his girlfriend, but the prolonged strain has taken its toll on his drunken self. Doubtful he’ll be able to even get to his room before he eventually collapses, he doesn’t put up much resistance when Robin throws the bedsheets aside and pulls him into the bed with her.  
  
“Sleep here with me”.  
  
Her words take his head for a wild ride as she adjusts his arm around her waist, snuggling closer to the swordsman until neither can tell where their own body begins and the other’s ends. Robin turns down the lights with an easy flick on the switch on her right before she tangles their legs together.  
  
Her feet are cold, he notices, two small, ice knifes stuck in his calves, but he doesn’t mind, because the rest of her body still feels impossibly goddess-like as it presses against him.  
  
“ _Mh_ , you’re warm”, she adds, resting her head on his chest.  
  
Minutes pass as the two slowly relax, lulled by their partner’s embrace.  
  
As a matter of fact, Zoro is just about to drift off to sleep when he’s startled by a sudden chuckle on his side.  
  
“Is this what they call… _cuddling_ , Swordsman-san?”  
  
Stunned by her question, the boy lets out a nervous laugh, but it’s too late, because Robin breathes deeper now, the corners of her lips curled up in half a smile as her beautiful sleeping face is still pointed in his direction.  
  
“I guess so”, he whispers, although his voice is so low, she wouldn’t probably hear him even if she was awake. _I think I like it_ …  
  
Zoro is wintry, but still a teenager who’s captivated enough by female attributes not to refuse _sex_ if it is offered to him on a silver plate, like it happened to be the case with his ex.  
  
Their entire relationship ran its course based on this simple fact, that he wouldn’t deny her a piece of his body when she asked for it, only to then turn into an absolute shitshow the moment Tashigi started asking for more and he realized there was nothing else he could give to her.  
  
He didn’t _love_ her, he wasn’t _in love_ with her, he barely _tolerated_ her as a person.  
  
Not once did the swordsman feel the urge to squeeze her tight to his chest like he is doing now, not once did he get lost in an overwhelming surge of happiness just by staring at her face… Robin brings out a different, _softer_ side of him which he is quite unfamiliar with.  
  
The comparison is not something he does on purpose, it just comes up instinctively: he is not sure there’s something he could deny to the stunning girl presently in his arms; if she asked him for the moon, then Zoro would only tell her to be patient, because the moon _shall_ belong to her.  
  
Pressing a small kiss on the crown of her hair, the alcohol and exhaustion eventually land the final blow on him and he joins his girlfriend in her slumber.  
  
Startled by his own thoughts and soothed by the faint vanilla scent of her hair, the swordsman doesn’t bother fighting to keep his brain awake.

* * *

Vivi is the first to wake up the following morning, swiftly popping a painkiller into her mouth to deal with the giant, _gross_ headache she has.  
  
Going through her morning routine, she’s grateful when the stench of alcohol finally leaves her mouth as she brushes her teeth, and in little than thirty minutes she is dressed and ready to go to the beach.  
  
She’s mildly surprised when Nami isn’t waiting for her in the lobby, checking the time on her phone once more, _two minutes past ten_ , but maybe her friend has already left to work on her tan.  
  
Her bed was spotless, most of her belongings still sitting in the same places she left them yesterday, but she fell asleep the moment she entered the room and let herself fall on the bed, so she can’t really tell whether her roommate has slept somewhere else.  
  
She knows she could easily unlock her phone and call Nami, solving the mystery, but she decides against.  
  
You see, the Alabastan princess is the type of drinker who remembers every detail of the things she does against her better judgement when she hits the bottle. This morning, as she strolls her way down the path that leads to the beach, it’s the memory of the embarrassing number of messages she sent to Luffy’s brother last night that keeps her company.  
  
_Seriously_ , it’s mortifying… She was loud (yes, even via texts), rude and friendlier than usual, whilst Ace was cheeky, laid-back, he made her _high_ in a way that made the alcohol pale in comparison.  
  
He must think she’s such a shallow, weird girl now…  
  
“Fancy meeting you here”, pipes up a familiar voice, at the sound of which she turns around to be greeted by the sight of Usopp’s, _umh_ , ‘ _important_ ’ nose.  
  
He’s holding two paper-cups with what smells like coffee inside, forcing a smile despite the tiredness etched on his face.  
  
“We got up early this morning because Kaya wanted to go to the flower-market, but it turned out smaller than she was expecting, so we decided to wait for the rest of you guys directly at the beach…”, he explains. “We have tried calling Nami, but she didn’t pick up, so we texted her instead… Anyways, are you joining us?”  
  
Vivi moves her eyes to the café behind him, more of a wooden shack than a proper building, agreeing but at the condition that he waits for her as she buys something to eat.  
  
She feels very dehydrated this morning, like her skin is going to crunch up and peel off any second now.  
  
She empties one of the two small bottles of water she just bought as soon as they touch her hands, securing the other in her tote bag before she makes her way back to Usopp, moaning in pleasure as she takes the first bite out of her chocolate croissant.  
  
_The dough is still hot_ …  
  
They walk for a couple of minutes, or perhaps it’s a little more than that, until they spot a familiar head of blond hair so light it looks white under the scorching sun.  
  
“Here you go, babe”, Usopp leans forward, almost crouching next to the foldable-chair Kaya is currently perched on top of.  
  
He hands her one of the cups before occupying the beach-towel sprawled on the sand right next to her. He sits down, crossing his ankles, then takes a sip of his coffee.  
  
“I’ve found Vivi on my way back, but the others weren’t with her…”  
  
Kaya turns around, excitedly. “ _Oh_ , hey. Good morning, Vivi”, she greets. “Is Nami still asleep?”  
  
“Not in our room”, the other shrugs. “She wasn’t there when I woke up, so I just assumed she had already left… To be honest, I was hoping she’d be here with you”.

* * *

Hazelnut eyes pop open when the snorting grows louder, heavy breathing climaxing into a snapping sound that startles her awake.  
  
Nami stands up quickly, groaning as her brain is literally _hammered_ by the sudden gesture, scanning her current location. She discovers that _one_ , this is not her room, _so why the hell did she just wake up in here_ , and _two_ , the unpleasant noise that reminds her of boiling water is being produced by no less than… Sanji?  
  
The blond is draped across the other bed, his body arranged in a starfish position.  
  
_Where’s Zoro_?  
  
The green haramaki peeking from under the sleeping boy’s leg belongs to him, so if the one Sanji is occupying is his bed, why is the swordsman nowhere to be seen?  
  
She has been friends with him long enough to know that, unlike a certain prince, he would have had no qualms about either waking her up in the middle of the night and telling her to go back to her room or sliding into the bed next to her, does this mean Zoro never made it back to his room?  
  
It wouldn’t be the first time she finds him passed out on the floor somewhere…  
  
Nami decides to focus on this, ignoring the mind-boggling urge to get up, pull up the sheets with her and wrap them around Sanji’s unconscious form. He’s still wearing his swimsuit, and nothing else, shivering slightly as he mutters something inaudible in his sleep.  
  
She leaves the bed, groggily, tightening the bathrobe’s belt around her hips.  
  
She’s still wearing her bikini, she notes, she feels cold in those parts of her body that were in contact with the damp fabric for most of the night.  
  
She must have fallen asleep while Sanji threw up his soul in the bathroom…   
  
“… _Please_ , no… Don’t do this to me…”  
  
She can’t see his face, but she can tell that he’s having a nightmare of some kind.  
  
Nami approaches his bed cautiously, but the hand she extends to shake him up stops abruptly when he cries out a little louder, “…Leave my friends alone, _dad_ ”.   
  
Puzzled, the orange-haired girl narrows her eyes at him. _Leave my friends alone_? Does Germa’s King even know they exist?  
  
From what she knows he and Sanji are not close, very far from that, actually.  
  
Vinsmoke Judge sounds just as mean and evil as a fairytale villain, but from what his son shared with the crew in the past, which isn’t much, he isn’t very invested his life.  
  
They meet a couple of times a year, smile for the press and then go their separate ways. The only relative he has some sort of connection to is his older sister, Reiju, but even with her the relationship grows stiffer as each year the distance increases between his moral values and the family’s.  
  
_Just what is Sanji dreaming about_?  
  
Nami doesn’t waste any time trying to satisfy her curiosity, sprinting immediately into action.  
  
He sounds so hurt and heartbroken as he whimpers in his sleep, she can’t bear it a moment longer. Her hand finally connects with his shoulder and she nudges him gently, “ _Oi_ , Sanji-kun… We overslept”.  
  
Getting no reply, she opts for a stronger and hopefully more effective strategy, pinching the firm skin of his back as she starts humming a song which she knows he hates.  
  
There’s a bit of a scowl on his face as he whips his head in her direction, sitting up on the bed with a low grumble. “ _Eh_ , Nami-s _w_ an?”, he calls out, confusedly. “What happened?”  
  
Sanji seems to have no recollection of the night before, mouth open as he stares at her, waiting for an explanation. Her memories aren’t very clear either, she’s still missing a couple of bits and pieces here and there, but two moments are burnt into her memory: when he confessed his feelings to her, opening up a pandora’s vase Nami is not sure they’ll be able to close once more, and when they finally got to this room, if only because it took all of her strength and then some to drag his deadweight all the way down here from the spa.  
  
“What’s the last thing you remember?”  
  
“We went to the bar after talking to Robin-chan…”, he recalls, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. “I was very mad at Luffy, for some reason, but other than that…”  
  
She inhales a deep breath, eyeing him closely.  
  
The blush on his cheeks as he stares blankly back at her, the beginning of a smile showing on his lips, turns her greatest worry into reality: he has not forgotten the conversation they had by the poolside.  
  
“He stole my drink when I was distracted, so you chased after him…”, Nami supplies, trying to get over the unusual awkwardness between them. “When you finally came back, both of you were completely _wasted_ , so I parked you on the barstool next to me and you collapsed there for the rest of the party… Then I somehow managed to get you back here, but you locked yourself in the bathroom the moment we stepped into the room. I must have fallen asleep as I waited to check up on you”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , that’s… That was very gracious of you…”, Sanji stutters, straightening up a little on the bed. His icy blue eyes scan the entire room twice before he lets out a small sigh, “…Hey, Nami, where is the _marimo_?”

* * *

Robin keeps her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, ears stretched as far as possible as she tries to decipher the breaths released by the person in her bed. Warm air brushes against her neck, tickling the roots of her hair in a spot where they are slick with sweat. She brings her hand down, testing the fresh consistency of the linen bedsheets under her fingertips. She feels exceptionally hot, and yet…   
  
A thaw, hard, strong body is pressed to her right side, she recognizes the faint outline of a big, calloused hand on her stomach area. There is someone else in the bed with her.  
  
She wishes her head was pounding now, that she didn’t remember what happened the night before, but each memory is neatly stored away in her brain, she can recall them all quickly and precisely.  
  
She knows exactly _who_ is laying next to her on the mattress, his limbs so closely knitted with hers that she can’t get out of the bed without waking him up. She’s the one who asked Zoro to sleep with her.  
  
Does she regret it? _No_.  
  
Waking up in his embrace feels… _magical_.  
  
Is she embarrassed? Absolutely _yes_.  
  
Her breath itches in her throat when she thinks about how pleading her voice really sounded (“ _Sleep here with me_ ”), but she’s glad drunk-Robin seized the opportunity. She never could have guessed it, but she is quite fond of these, _err_ … _cuddles_.  
  
There is only a word through which she would describe the feeling of the swordsman’s arms around her, his body-temperature washing over her in red-hot waves… that is, _natural_.  
  
“I know you’re awake”.  
  
Her eyes shoot open at the disturbance, lips curling down in a small pout as a lazy, slender digit slides down her nose, descending down to trace the edge of her mouth.  
  
Zoro’s thumb lingers on her lower lip, making her hold her breath… perhaps she can’t see his smirk, but she can feel it.  
  
“Good morning, _sunshine_ ”, he teases, ruffling her bangs. He then stretches his arm behind his back, yawning, before he glances back at her and asks, “Did you sleep well?”  
  
Robin meditates on her answer a little.  
  
“Like I haven’t in a while”, she admits, covering her face with both hands in shame. She steals another glance at him from behind her crossed fingers, amazed by the amount of beauty she can find in a single boy’s morning face. “Did you?”  
  
“ _Mh_ ”. Zoro wraps his arm around her waist once more, only this time he places his hand on the small of her back, lifting her up and turning her slightly around so that she now rests on top of him. “Where do I sign to wake up like this every day?”  
  
She rolls her eyes, playfully. Robin is just about to throw her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his mouth, too captivated by the boy in front of her to resist, when there’s a sharp knock on the door. Then, inexplicably, the sound of the latch turning inside the lock echoes through the room, followed by two voices.  
  
“Robin? Can… Can I come in? The others are already… _Zoro_?”, the first hesitates, laced with shock.  
  
“What are you doing here?”  
  
“ _What_!”, spats the second voice, sparking with outrage, “ _Ahh_ , my poor Robin-ch _w_ an! What the fuck do you think you’re doing here, you _shitty_ _moss-head_ … Get your _fucking_ hands off of her!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't write the long-ass notes I usually type because I'm practically falling asleep on my pc.  
> Double update to apologize for the long wait and wish you all a Happy New Year! 💖 
> 
> I thank you all so so much for reading, leaving kudos and comments. Your words always make my day (hell, my week). If you commented on chapter 15th, I'm not ignoring you, I am just too brain-dead right now to type answers, but I'll get to that tomorrow, as soon as I can! You guys are the best and I hope you enjoyed the final two chapters of the Mystoria trip. 
> 
> Next up, we're back in Grand Line City, yay!


	18. Bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Zoro and Sanji quarrel, Trafalgar Law is as sociable as a kettle, the bi-weekly Straw-Hats' reunion takes place and two lovebirds see their date interrupted by a sudden ring of the doorbell.

**NINE DAYS LATER**.

Little over a week since their trip to Mystoria, the Straw-Hats have all but returned to their normal routines.  
  
With the exception of Franky and Usopp, who are in section B, and Bartolomeo, Cavendish and Rebecca, who are younger and therefore in earlier grades, they all listen intently as Professor Tsuru lectures them about the New World’s economy, but someone is having a harder time following her slides and graphs than usual. No matter the intensity with which he tries, Vinsmoke Sanji is unable to focus today.   
  
Mild panic rushes through him when the teacher announces, twenty minutes before the ring of the bell, that she will start interrogating the class so that she’ll have enough marks by the end of the semester in February, but he soon returns to his previous occupation, doodling on his notebook as he mentally goes through his recent interactions with Nami-swan.  
  
She promised she would think about his words and finally tell him whether it’s all one-sided or not, but so far the girl hasn’t approached him on the subject, or approached him at all, so while he’s still determined to give her some space and wait patiently, that doesn’t mean his frustration doesn’t increase exponentially as each day slowly passes and he feels more and more regretful about confessing his feelings to her.  
  
Sure, he was _drunk_ , but what was he expecting?   
  
His eyes land distractedly on the empty chair next to him.  
  
Luffy’s name has been called by Professor Tsuru, so he’s sitting by the teacher’s desk as he unapologetically admits he has no idea what the answers to her questions are because he hasn’t opened a book _yet_ , which means the only barrier between Sanji and the green-haired menace who occupies the desk next to the captain’s has been removed.  
  
His blue eyes turn into slits as they move to the swordsman.  
  
That _bastard_ …   
  
He still can’t believe what he witnessed over a week ago in Mystoria, when the prospect of starting the day in the company of two beautiful ladies turned into a living nightmare.  
  
How could someone as sweet, pretty and sophisticated as his Robin-ch _w_ an be interested in such a good-for-nothing muscle-head?  
  
She even let him into her hotel room!  
  
But it’s worse than that, she invited him into her _bed_.  
  
The young chef doesn’t want to know what transpired between the two that night, preferring to convince himself they have just slept in the same room like he and Nami did, _innocently_ , but having been caught there together the two were forced to tell them about their relationship, so here Sanji is now, aware of such a _monstrosity_ and complicit in keeping it a secret.  
  
_What does she even see in him_ , _anyway?_ – he muses, glaring at his green-haired rival.  
  
_Personally_ , he thinks there isn’t something that looks more hideous than his face, or that preposterous green hair, but over the years he has come to terms with the fact that many women and men around here seem to disagree.  
  
For reasons he’s afraid he’ll never understand, Zoro is generally regarded as handsome and attractive, much to his dismay. Girls have hit on him in the past, but Nico Robin doesn’t strike him as the type of person who would create a connection with someone just because of their appearance, so Sanji can’t help but wonder how exactly he pulled that off.  
  
She’s one of the smartest students in the whole school, with marks that rival those of Chopper, Nami, or Trafalgar Law… _What would those two even talk about when they’re alone_?  
  
With a groan, he looks over the shoulder of the beautiful angel with orange hair sitting behind Robin, frowning slightly when the dark-haired girl immediately turns around upon feeling watched, but searching with her eyes for the swordsman instead. Zoro, however, is still napping, head nested on his crossed arms. Only then does she turn in the chef’s direction, cocking her head to the side in a mute question.  
  
He doesn’t necessarily like the recent development, but he decided he won’t be a _dick_ about it.  
  
Robin-chwan looks overwhelmingly happier recently, she’s smiling more, and it’s genuine… That’s enough to make Sanji bite his tongue when he comes up with a particularly refined jab at his rival’s expense. He would never do something to erase the joyful twinkle in her eyes.  
  
On top of that, he can’t say he wishes to see Zoro unhappy, no matter how little he goes along with the idiot; it’s obvious they would never hang out with each other if it wasn’t for Luffy, but after five years of mutual dislike he considers him his friend, too.  
  
_Okay_ , maybe Nami-s _w_ an also threatened to, direct quote, “ _ruin his life_ ” if he ever does anything that jeopardizes the blossoming relationship between the pair, with a siding of “ _I’ll kick your balls so hard even your grandchildren will feel it_ ”, so he only shows a little smile at Robin, pretending to be interested on what’s going on at the teacher’s desk.  
  
She seems to buy it, because she turns around once more.  
  
“… _Oi_ , what was that about?”  
  
Sanji whips his head in the direction of the low snarl. The swordsman is now sitting perfectly straight on his chair, as if he wasn’t asleep just two minutes before, glaring daggers at him.  
  
“You’ve been staring at me for the past ten minutes…”, he continues with a cocky smirk. “Do you want a picture or something?”   
  
“ _Tsk_ ”. He intensifies his strokes on the page, as a small tree of tangerines comes to life in an empty corner of the page. He didn’t take many notes today, so there’s plenty of room for the branches to grow.  
  
“I was just wondering...”, the chef pauses, looking at Robin once more, “Why would you keep _that_ secret?”  
  
He does nothing to stop the smug grin which spontaneously forms on his lips when Zoro’s expression twists into one of embarrassment.  
  
He, too, steals a glance in the girl’s direction, before muttering, “You wouldn’t understand, _dart-board brow_ ”. He turns away, sharply, pointing his eyes at the blackboard across the classroom. “Can’t even grow the balls to ask Nami out, can you?”  
  
The pencil’s lead breaks under the pressure Sanji applies to it. _Snap_.  
  
“You wouldn’t understand, _marimo_ ”, he repeats, his tone further emphasizing the unspoken threat. He really shouldn’t talk of things he knows nothing about. “It’s not like you’ve ever cared for someone that’s not yourself”.  
  
Their conversation is cut short when a crestfallen Luffy returns to his desk, plopping himself down on the chair.  
  
The teacher is about to call another name, it’s just there at the tip of her tongue, but she has lost a little too much time reproaching him for his lack of preparation, so the other students are saved by the bell and excused for the rest of the day.  
  
Neither the swordsman nor the chef say another word to the other, but the respective accusations make the air stale between them for the rest of the school-day, drilling into their brains for hours to come.

* * *

The library is quiet, almost lifeless, stagnant and _ugly_ – there isn’t a single thing in the room which Luffy likes or finds even remotely interesting, but this is the place where _he_ often retires after classes, so his feet just dragged him here at the end of the day, when he refused to join Usopp and Chopper in their quest for hamburger and chips, surprising the entire crew, and now he’s scanning the room with his eyes, looking gingerly for the co-protagonist in the dreams he has been having recently.  
  
The Straw-Hats’ captain is just about to give up with a wistful sigh, turn around and be on his way, wondering if he’s still in time to catch up with his friends at the fast-food, when a husky voice pipes up behind him with a slight mocking tone to it.  
  
“Looking for someone, Straw-Hat- _ya_?”  
  
Luffy gulps, turning around.  
  
Trafalgar Law stands a couple of feet away from him, holding the strap of his backpack with his head tilted on one side. His dark hair isn’t hidden by the usual hat, black strands spiked in every direction as if he just got out of bed, and he looks quite… _edible_ , overall, in his total black outfit composed of over-sized hoodie, jeans and combat boots.  
  
The walking epitome of a bad boy, Law carries himself around with an air of inaccessibility and indifference, breaking more hearts on the way than he probably notices – or cares about. Luffy never thought he would join the ranks of New Marineford students pining for him, but here he is now, voluntarily holed up in the library during his free time in the hope of catching even a small glimpse of him.  
  
His conversation with Robin in Mystoria has lingered on the back of his mind for over a week, popping up in the least convenient moments; whilst he’s glad she and Zoro trusted him with their secret, he can’t help but wonder why his friends would find his gift for Torao so peculiar.  
  
It was his birthday, after all, and he had been told by Bepo that not only he never got around to eat the one his friends bought for him, his father was out of town, too, meaning he would be getting no celebration of any kind on his special day.  
  
Anyone would have done the same thing, right?  
  
“ _Uh_ , actually. I was just trying to figure out where to sit…”, he hesitates, not sure how to complete the lie. _Guess I’ll do homework or something_ , he thinks.  
  
“Do you come here often?”, he adds, feigning ignorance.  
  
_Yes, yes,_ he does.  
  
At least three times a week.  
  
It’s the only reason he’s here today.  
  
“ _Hn_ ”, Law shrugs, noncommittally. “You do too, it seems”.   
  
How does _he_ know?  
  
He is always careful and hides behind the bookshelves whenever he comes here just to look at him.  
  
He doesn’t even know _why_ he does it in the first place, he can’t believe he already got caught, and the idea makes him gasp for air.  
  
“It’s easier to concentrate in here”, he replies, stealing Robin’s words from a past conversation. “My grades could use a little improvement, so…”  
  
The other boy doesn’t seem too convinced by his words, but he doesn’t comment on it, tilting his head slightly as a greeting and proceeding for his usual table in the most secluded corner of the library.  
  
Luffy is a bit hurt by the coldness with which he has interrupted the exchange, but they are not friends, passing acquaintances at best, and he still has talked to Law more this year than he did over the previous four.   
  
“Mind if I sit next to you?”  
  
He doesn’t wait for an affirmative reply, or a reply at all. He just plops down two chairs away from Law and picks up a random notebook from his bag, loose sheets of paper scattering all around as it’s flipped over on the table. “ _Ops_ , my bad”, he chuckles. “Didn’t know those were there”.  
  
He makes to pick up the one paper that found his way to the top of the book Law is reading, but he stops there, arm raised mid-air, when slender, bony fingers wrap around his wrist. “ _Oi_ ”, the other chastises, “That’s mine”.  
  
With a voice as cold as ice and his yellow eyes reduced to two small slits, Law looks like a big, feral cat whose tail was just pulled or stomped over. Luffy is afraid he might just start to _hiss_. His eyes glide smoothly over the sheet of paper, but he only manages to spot a couple of numbers (math homework, perhaps?) before it is snatched, folded neatly and secured between the pages of Law’s book.  
  
“I… I’m sorry”, he apologizes, weakly, “I thought it was one of mine”.  
  
“Whatever”, Law draws a sharp breath, resuming his reading. “Just don’t bother me again”.  
  
There’s a frown on his face, he looks very annoyed, but his interlocutor never stops to wonder whether the fact he’s in the library could mean that he wants to study in peace, that’s just not an option for him.  
  
_No,_ all Luffy can think of is that he must have done something to him, offended him in some way…  
  
It can’t just be that Trafalgar Law doesn’t want to be his friend, right?  
  
That would be a _first_ – and it would break his heart.  
  
He doesn’t expect him to reciprocate whatever _he_ was feeling in those dreams, but friendship?  
  
Why would he deny him friendship?  
  
It just doesn’t make sense.  
  
“Did you like the cake?”  
  
The only sound that follows is a book being slammed shut, followed by a chair that is dragged across the floor.  
  
Law is standing up now, his trademark indolent expression plastered on his face. He gathers his belonging with haste, returning them to his backpack, then glances down at him with finality.  
  
“I’ll see you around, Straw-Hat- _ya_ ”.

* * *

* * *

“…I can’t believe you are dating”, gushes Nami, eyeing the pair sitting across from her.  
  
She blows lightly over her cup of hot cocoa, trying to bring her liquid happiness down to a temperature she can survive.  
  
“I mean, I _knew_ there was something going on between you two, but I would have never guessed… I was planning on pushing you together if it took you too long, but I’m glad you have figured that out on your own”.  
  
She giggles when Zoro snarls, sipping irritably on his coffee before he sets it back down on the table in front of him. He sits opposite from her, with Robin on his left, and the three are enjoying a warm drink as they wait for the Straw-Hats’ bi-weekly meeting, the third to last before the first round of the tournament on Halloween.  
  
She is always the first to arrive, but not today. When she stepped into the Thousand Sunny, a renowned bakery not far from New Marineford, the couple was already there, flirting over a stack of cinnamon cones.  
  
Nami recovered quickly from her surprise, however, and she has been teasing them mercilessly ever since. Well, she has been teasing Zoro, _anyway_.  
  
He’s the one who gets flustered whenever she points out their relationship, the fact _he_ , the icy, _I-don’t-need-no-woman_ type of guy now has a girlfriend.  
  
For Nami, this is just too hilarious.  
  
They have known each other since they were children, they have been through thick and thin together, but never, not even in her wildest dreams, did she think he would find someone who is willing to put up with his rough personality, someone who bothers looking beyond the muscles and the clout and establish a genuine connection with him. She always knew at least some girls would be interested if he ever tried an approach, but he never did before, so… _what changed_?  
  
She’s dying to know.  
  
What’s so _special_ about Robin that he goes so blatantly out of his comfort zone for her?  
  
Of course, there are plenty of reasons her dark-haired friend is special and deserves the very best this world has to offer, that’s not what’s up for discussion. It’s Zoro’s sudden change that makes her curious.  
  
She has never seen him like this, quite so receptive to another person’s feelings and needs, always ready to jump in and provide comfort, or laughter, _not to this extent_ – there’s a glint in his eyes when he contemplates Robin, like she’s the greatest creature who ever walked the earth, it’s just raw, unadulterated devotion.  
  
It makes Nami a little uneasy. Is this what a swordsman in love looks like?  
  
If yes, how does she make sure his heart won’t be broken, now that he has finally decided to open it, or that he doesn’t break Robin’s?  
  
She’s happy for them, she really is, but dating a member of the crew introduces the possibility of breaking up with said member of said crew, and someone has to consider the worst case scenario.  
  
What’s going to happen _if_ they don’t work out? Would Robin distance herself from the group?   
  
“I’m curious now”, the latter says, “How did you plan to do it?”  
  
“ _Eh_?”  
  
“You just said you would have pushed us together if we didn’t figure it out on our own, _witch_ ”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , that”, Nami stammers.  
  
She has been so focused on her thoughts, she forgot what she was talking about. It’s not a common occurrence, but it’s happening more often lately; since she got back from the trip to Mystoria, to be precise.  
  
She should _charge_ Sanji for messing up her mind like this.  
  
“Well, it’s not important. I’m sure I would have found a way”, she insists, stubbornly. “It’s matchmaking, not rocket science”.  
  
Zoro rolls his eyes. “ _Yeah_ , right. Because introducing Kaya and Usopp in first grade makes you an expert”.  
  
“Say what you want, but almost four years down the line they are still going strong”, she retorts, “Even though it took them a while to get where they are”.  
  
Following Robin’s questioning expression, the two launch into a long explanation about the way those two got together, or rather, Nami narrates and Zoro sometimes corroborates the information or adds a small detail.  
  
It turns out Kaya and Usopp liked each other for years before she finally decided to make a move.  
  
That’s how Vivi and Chopper find them ten minutes later, still rolling with laughter as they reminisce the days their long-nosed friend would fumble with his words whenever a certain blonde girl was around. Even Robin, who can only imagine the scenes they’re depicting, has tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

* * *

“… I mean, sure, if Yorki and Madaisuki didn’t fall right into Sengoku’s trap we would have probably won the ’85 tournament, too, but I can’t say I’m mad at them. God knows _I_ would have jumped at the opportunity of seeing Catarina Devon’s panties back then…”, Brook pauses, sipping quietly from his tea.  
  
He always forgets these are not his old crewmates, but students he is sponsoring, students who are much younger than him and probably don’t appreciate such jokes coming from a professor.  
  
“ _The_ Catarina Devon?”, asks Nami, who’s devotion to the actress stretches further than her anger for the teacher. How men his age think certain “jokes” are funny, or even remotely acceptable, is beyond her. “ _Oh, My, God_. I’ve watched all her movies! She’s so, _so_ …”  
  
“… _perfect_ ”, Sanji concludes for her. “I mean, sure, she’s seventy-something now, but in her youth… Now, that’s what you call a _beautiful lady_ ”.   
  
“Wasn’t she Gol D. Roger’s muse for almost a decade?”, pipes up Chopper, “Before, _you know_ …”  
  
The table falls silent at that.  
  
Almost twenty years after his death, the late movie director is a pop icon worshipped all over the New World, the man who single-handedly revolutionized the cinema industry.  
  
His late departure is still surrounded by an aura of mystery and conspiracy, with theories being published on blogs _daily_. His fans still refuse to believe it was a simple, heart-breaking case of suicide.  
  
“She appeared in every film Roger ever directed”, the professor replies. “I think it’s safe to assume he must have really appreciated her as an actress… But that’s quite enough of that, I’m afraid. As much as I’d love to spend the afternoon discussing my schoolmates’ career paths with you, we should focus on finalizing our strategy. We weren’t pitted against CP9 or the RA for the first round, so we can see how much they’ve progressed since last year before we eventually face them, that is, of course, if we are not kicked out of the competition at the very beginning–”  
  
Luffy cuts him off, banging his closed fist on the table and vowing, “I won’t let that happen!”  
  
“That’s quite nice of you, Luffy-san”, Brook notes, “But we need to prepare for every possible outcome. You guys have a great combination of strong, smart and cunning… However, let’s keep in mind that our rivals are just as talented, as they proved last year, and that it’s the first time in a while that so many promising crews are all competing at the same time. We shouldn’t take our victory for granted”.  
  
It’s quite rare for the old teacher to scold his pupils, students always appreciated him for his easy-going attitude, for lacking that air of superiority so many of his colleagues carry themselves with, but he wouldn’t be a good mentor if he didn’t remind them of their past errors, or the fact it was a similar lapse in judgement, the same over-confidence which brought the team to defeat last year. They underestimated Lucci’s craftiness, succumbed to his devious, yet brilliant plan to delay them, sending them home that night with a decent, yet not as rewarding second place. Especially since they had to share it with the Revolutionary Army, the last school’s tournament ending in a tie between them and the Straw-Hats.  
  
“We aren’t”, retorts Nami, sounding just as confident as her captain. “Last year they exploited whatever information they had on our personal lives to mislead us and slow us down, but they won’t catch us off guard this year. Here”, she takes a red binder with ‘Straw-Hats’ scribbled on the front out of her backpack, showing it to the others, “I’ve been working on this for six months”.  
  
“What’s that?”, asks Luffy, snatching it from her hands. He opens it, skimming through the first page, “Top secret, _uh_?”  
  
“There’s a section for everyone of us”, she explains, retrieving the binder after she hits the nape of his neck with her best karate chop. “School gossip, newspaper articles, anything that’s been ever said or written about us… Every tiny, little piece of tattletale regarding anyone of us is inside this binder”.  
  
“That must have taken you ages”, remarks Usopp, who’s torn between feeling impressed and sheer, unadulterated fear.  
  
Nami’s network of loyal, dutiful spies around the school, mainly younger girls who look up to her, is not something to be trifled with. If you’re not careful, she can destroy your reputation in less than a week; not a single rumor spreads through New Marineford without reaching her ears first.  
  
“What’s the purpose, though?”  
  
“Just knowing the skeletons in our closets. That way, neither Lucci nor someone else can use them against us”, she explains. “That being said, we’ll meet up over the weekend to go over it, so reflect upon your sins and be ready to write them down in case I’ve missed something, which _I doubt_ ”.  
  
“…Yohohohoho!”, erupts Brook. “It seems you have already made up your mind, so I won’t stop you from working this angle, especially with everything that transpired last year…”  
  
Bartolomeo and Cavendish are only one grade below them, so they watched the tournament as the rest of the school did and know what jeopardized the Straw-Hats’ victory, but Robin only moved to Grand Line City in the summer, whilst Rebecca is a freshman.  
  
“…Did your captain tell _you_ why we lost?”, he asks, addressing the latter two.   
  
“I’m afraid not, sir”, mumbles the Dressrosa princess as she shakes her head, pink ponytail flipping wildly behind her head, while the other just shrugs, “I know what happened”.  
  
The green-haired swordsman turns sharply to the girl sitting next to him, “ _How_?”  
  
Zoro has just voiced the question which everyone that was already part of the group last year was dying to ask. There’s a reason they haven’t told her, _yet_ , probably weren’t planning on ever doing so.  
  
What happened during the final race it’s their deepest shame and their greatest regret.  
  
“I’ve been watching previous editions of the tournament on the web for a couple of weeks now”, Robin declares, “Of course, I started from the most recent”.  
  
All eyes are on her now. Some people are puzzled, like Nami, Zoro or Usopp, because she never said a word to them in that regard, they didn’t know that _she_ knows what happened last year; others are merely impressed by the effort and dedication she’s showing, mostly Chopper and Kaya, who are more than happy to look at the past as just a tragic mistake they’ll make sure they never repeat, whilst those remaining either weren’t involved in the squabble that nearly tore apart the Straw-Hats, or are preoccupied with different thoughts, like Luffy, who inquires, “You can do that?”  
  
Brook chuckles. “Yohohoho! I see…”, he mutters, “That was an excellent initiative on your part, Nico-san”.  
  
“Thank you, professor”, she replies with a small smile. “I just wanted to know what to expect from the competition. I don’t think I have enough, _uh_ , _athletic prowess_ to be of much use during the first match, but I think I can help with the trivia if we pass the first round”.   
  
“Not if, _when_ ”, corrects Vivi with a placid smile, “We are winning this year, remember?”   
  
“ _Of course_ ”, Robin nods, before producing a small notebook from her backpack. “It’s not an entire binder, but I’ve written down a couple of things”, she trails off, turning the pages until she gets to the one she’s looking for. “Ok, so these are my notes about last year. Please bear in mind that all I know about the tournament comes either from you or those videos, so there could be things I miscalculated…”  
  
“Let’s see”.  
  
Nami extends her arm, waiting gingerly for the notebook to be placed in her hand.  
  
She’s sitting opposite from Robin, so she can’t peep over her shoulder like Zoro is doing to read.  
  
Once her eyes settle on the paper, discerning the schematic, yet surprisingly detailed information jotted down on it, she can’t help but feel sincerely impressed by her acute spirit of observation: black on white, she is forced to face the many reasons they didn’t deserve to win last year, whilst CP9 did.  
  
They just played it smarter.  
  
“Tough, but _fair_ ”, she concludes. “Still, why didn’t you tell us? That you knew, I mean”.  
  
Robin takes a long moment to ponder her reply, settling for, “What was there to discuss?” Then, in a gentler tone, “I considered asking you about it, but what was the point? I already knew what happened from the video, and you guys never uttered a word about it. It seems you have all moved on from…”, she hesitates, glancing up at Luffy and Usopp, who had the biggest argument in that occasion. They act like the best of friends nowadays, and they truly seem to be, she would never try to actively upset the delicate balance of the group, “…Whatever that was. Part of the audio was cut off, so I’m not so sure what sparked the… _emh_ , fights, but I figured you would tell me in your own time if you ever wanted to”.  
  
“Beautiful _and_ wise!”, Sanji swoons, “What a majestic combination for a lady!”  
  
“ _Oi_ , back off, _ero-cook_. This is a serious meeting, ‘ _ya know_? Or should I just kick your ass again?”

* * *

“…Why did you get so mad at Sanji earlier, _mh_?”  
  
“ _Eh_?”  
  
Zoro stops abruptly, soft lips halting on the crook of his girlfriend’s neck.  
  
When the meeting ended earlier, they decided to spend the rest of the evening together, so here they are now, waiting for their dinner to be delivered to Robin’s door as they make out on her sofa.  
  
He’s not sure why she would bring that up now that two hours have passed, but he knows better than to ignore the seriousness in her voice.  
  
He’s aware she doesn’t really like it when he and dart-brow argue or, like she calls it, _spew testosterone at each other_ , which is why he has been trying his hardest not to engage the blond cook when she’s present. The swordsman will never point-blank stop fighting him, that’s for sure, but he finds that he values what Robin thinks of him more than asserting his superiority over his rival.  
  
“ _Ah_ , that”, he notes, sheepishly. “I guess I was still a little pissed over something he said to me yesterday…”  
  
He tries to resume his previous activity, tracing a line of wet kisses on her jaw, but Robin is having none of it. “Yesterday?”, she prods, the smile on her face just too pretty not to be swayed by it.  
  
Sure, he’d rather _kiss_ her than discuss the stupid cook, but his primal urge is to make her happy, so if he needs to detail his unpleasant exchange with the even more unpleasant plague some people like to refer to as ‘ _Sanji_ ’ for that to happen, then so be it.  
  
“Nothing you should worry about”, he reassures her, “He said something I didn’t like, I replied with something he liked even less and then he struck once more with something I plainly _hated_ … I guess we just need to let it out from time to time, if we are to coexist”.  
  
The smile he shows is convincing, but Robin can see right through his façade of indestructible confidence; if there is one art she has mastered, it’s pretending to be fine when in reality she is absolutely _fucking_ not.  
  
There’s a word for the glint in his eyes, for the imperceptible tension in his jaw… he is _hurt_.   
  
The strangest feeling suddenly cracks up in her chest and all she can see, for the briefest moment, is _red_ , the color of blood and pure, unadulterated rage.  
  
Having the sudden urge to _beat_ some sense into the chef – she doesn’t even care what the argument was about, she just finds it unacceptable that someone, _anyone_ , took away that bright, carefree light from his eyes, if only for a second – Robin takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to collect herself.  
  
“What did _he_ say? _Err_ , I mean… What happened?”   
  
And here she goes.  
  
_See_ , this is exactly what she feared, why she was so sure that exploring this strange, unexpected, bliss-inducing connection between them would only lead to disaster. She doesn’t even know _who_ said _what_ and to _whom_ , who is right and who is wrong, and yet she has already made up her mind, she has picked out the hill she will die on – _Zoro_ ’s. It’s… _intimidating_.  
  
If anything, Robin likes to think of herself as a fair person; so why is she inwardly judging Sanji so harshly without even having all the elements? Where is this _rage_ coming from?  
  
For all she knows, it might have been her boyfriend to initiate the exchange, he does have the tendency to pick on the chef until he finally snaps back… So, why does she feel the urge to defend him, and with such fierceness?  
  
As if Zoro would need her protection, _anyway_. With all those muscles he apparently needs for his swordsmanship ( _not that she complains_ …), he surely can hold his own in a fight. She’s forced to reconsider her thoughts, however, upon noticing that he still hasn’t opened his mouth, eyes fixated on the tip of his shoes.  
  
_Words_ can cripple someone’s soul just as kicks and punches would damage a body, besides, she has it on good authority by now that those two are a lot of bark, but no bite.  
  
Neither would seriously injure the other (thankfully).  
  
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me–”  
  
“No, I… I’ll tell you”, Zoro says, looking up and straight into her blue orbs. He’s no longer pretending to smile, but he looks calmer than before. “I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed that he has been on my case more than usual recently…”  
  
_Ever since we got back from Mystoria_.  
  
“Surprisingly, he is managing to keep his mouth shut and respect our privacy, but that obviously doesn’t stop him from expressing his… _Disapproval_?”  
  
“What’s there to approve or disapprove of? It’s none of his business”, she flares up, “Or do I need to ask him for permission to court you and pay him a dowry?”  
  
He cracks a laugh at the joke, but then his expression returns serious.  
  
“No, it’s not like that. Even _he_ wouldn’t dare criticize the relationship itself, although I know he’s probably upset that someone like me winded up having a girlfriend before the supposedly love expert…”  
  
There’s a bit of a childish grimace on his face as he pronounces the last part, but Robin finds it endearing.  
  
Talking about his feelings is not his strongest asset, so she’s quite moved by the fact he is making what seems like a tremendous effort just to satisfy her curiosity.  
  
“What was he going on about, then?”  
  
“The fact we are not telling the others, and only told he and Nami because they caught us red-handed… I don’t know, he made me feel _dirty_ , somehow”, Zoro pauses, scrunching up his eyebrows as if he’s not sure how to continue, “So I mocked him for never finding the courage to ask Nami out”.  
  
Were she someone outside of the inner circle, he probably wouldn’t have exposed the chef so carelessly, but she’s as much of a Straw-Hat as anyone else (that’s the captain’s policy, anyway, it doesn’t matter for how long you’ve tagged along, if you join then you’re _nakama_ for life, _family_ ) and an extremely perceptive person.  
  
There’s no trace of shock in her eyes, only mild amusement, like she figured out the dunderhead a long time ago.  
  
“I see. Well, you were both pretty… _rude_ to each other”, Robin notes, struggling to keep her expression neutral. She kind of _hates_ Sanji for putting such a defeated expression on his face right now. Her hand reaches up, stroking the swordsman’s cheek. “ _I_ , for one, am not surprised girls would find you attractive”.   
  
Zoro brings his much larger hand to cover hers, longer, calloused digits enveloping her slender fingers. S  
  
he looks _oh-so-very-pretty_ , and overwhelmingly tempting, with that pink tint on her face, dimples retreating in her cheeks as she shows him a small smile.  
  
Every time she looks at him like this, with those big, blue, beautiful, doe-like eyes she has, he can’t stop himself from grinning like a fool.  
  
“Well, I don’t care what girls think…”, he trails off, a bit of a slump in his throat as he steadies himself for what’s about to come next.  
  
He _thinks_ it, so why not say it as well?  
  
“Just the one”.   
  
His embarrassment is quickly brushed to the side when Robin practically lunges at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her soft lips on his. It always takes him a little by surprise when she kisses him this urgently, like she’s a sugar-addict and Zoro made of candy.  
  
It’s been almost a month since their first date, so the fact she _really_ does like him back, for whatever reason, is established; however, he still can’t wrap his head around the fact that she is _his_ Robin, at least for now, until she wakes up one day and realizes how much better she could do, that she chose him, of all people, to be the recipient of her affection.   
  
Panting slightly, it’s only with tremendous effort that he manages to pull away and catch a breather.  
  
If they don’t stop _now_ , there’s no telling how long until his brain shuts off, or how long it’ll take for said brain to reconnect and resume their conversation. The cook’s words haunt him, digging at his insecurities, so he straightens back up and cups her cheeks. “ _Dart-brow_ also said I’ve never cared for someone other than myself, although I think he meant it, _uh_ ”, he pauses, unfamiliar with the language, “…romantically. While that may be true, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you now. I’d like it better if he kept his assumptions to himself. That _shithead_ …”  
  
The more he’s reminded of it, the more anger piles up at the pit of his stomach… but now is not the time, he urges himself, inwardly, breathing deeply as he tries to shove the thought out of his brain.  
  
He doesn’t want to waste his time with Robin plotting ways to get back at the ero-cook, he can do that later, in the privacy of his home.  
  
Besides, he doesn’t think his girlfriend will enjoy his company very much if he keeps up with this attitude.  
  
“I should just ignore him”, he mumbles, although he knows that will never happen. “Anyway, I’m sorry our arguing slowed down the meeting, earlier”.  
  
“It’s not really your fault. Things kind of went downhill when Brook-san started talking about Catarina Devon’s panties…”, she snorts, clearly displeased with the teacher’s joke. Zoro didn’t like it either. “Besides, we are still meeting up over the weekend to go over Nami’s binder, so…”  
  
“ _And_ your notes”, he says. “That’s incredible, by the way. I’m sure it’ll help us a lot”.  
  
Her cheeks turn pink upon hearing the compliment. Pretty much every member of the crew has congratulated her for watching old editions of the tournament, some even promising they’d start doing the same, but she still believes it was the natural course of action on her part: entrusted into a competition she doesn’t know, the best she can do is trying to figure out what to expect.  
  
She doesn’t think it’s that much of a feat on her part, just something anyone responsible would have done – it turns out, the Straw-Hats are anything _but_ responsible.  
  
It brings a smile to her face.  
  
“Oh, it’s just… I wanted to make myself useful”, she admits.  
  
Ever since the Straw-Hats asked her to join, or rather, _decided_ she was now part of the group, she has been terrified by the idea of letting them down. She knows how much this matters to them – truthfully, winning the school tournament is starting to mean a lot for Robin, too.  
  
“The idea of CP9 rubbing their victory in our faces makes me… homicidal”.  
  
Zoro laughs. She says it with a straight face, but he knows it’s a joke. _Ah, that morbidity of hers_ …   
  
“I assume you don’t like them?”  
  
It's Robin’s turn to giggle. “No, I definitely do not”.  
  
She hasn’t had many interactions with Rob Lucci and his group, but they painfully remind her of her schoolmates in Ohara, or the ones from the Institute.  
  
Rich, snob, conceited… They stroll around New Marineford as if they own the place, all high and mighty, casting their judgement upon people at first glance.  
  
If you don’t act like they expect you to, they feel entitled to _drag you down_ for it.  
  
She hates people like them.  
  
During the first month of school eventually news broke that the algid Kuzan Aokiji and her mother used to date, as many articles about their engagement and _then_ upcoming wedding were written in the past.  
  
Lucci was the first to openly question her admission. It probably doesn’t help the rivalry her former step-father shares with the vice-principal, Sakazuki, as he almost snatched the job from him two years ago, or so Usopp (or was it Vivi?) told her. The captain of CP9 is Akainu’s favorite pet-student, after all.  
  
As for Kaku and Kalifa, they don’t seem to produce much independent thoughts, usually going with whatever _flow_ their best friend and boyfriend respectively sets for them.  
  
It’s sad, in a way, how they both act like they’re walking on broken glass around him, but still rely on his approval to feel good about themselves.  
  
If Lucci is the narcissist, they are his enablers. Needless to say _,_ Nico Robin is not a fan.  
  
“I’m afraid you wouldn’t be a Straw-Hat if you did”, Zoro says. “Don’t worry, they are not winning this year”.  
  
“They are very strong, though”, she notes.  
  
It was very clear in the footage she watched. They are smart, athletic, top students, but, most of all, cunning.  
  
It can prove a lethal mix, considering how easily they played her crew last year.  
  
“We are stronger”, he insists.  
  
She can see where he comes from. The boy sitting next to her on the couch looks a lot more mature than the one on those tapes, even though the two look the same. Well, younger Zoro had a little less… muscle, especially in the first years, but it’s clear he has learnt a lot from the experience.  
  
“The stunt they pulled last year nearly tore the crew apart, but we got out of it closer and more honest with each other than they will ever be. Now we also have _you_ …”, he pauses, to catch his breath.  
  
His sentences are unusually long when he’s talking to her, but he likes it. He could do this for hours.  
  
“With this amazing memory you have…”, another pause, as he presses a kiss on her forehead, wrapping his hands around her sides once more, “…We are going to destroy them in the trivia. That’s always the toughest round, comparatively to the other two. Not only the teams that get more points access the finals, the higher score also gets an initial advantage in the treasure hunt. We never had someone who took care of the history part. I mean, sure, between Nami and Usopp we managed to score some points, but Chopper was an absolute game-changer, as you probably noticed. I’m sure even Bartolomeo or Cavendish will be helpful in their own ways…”  
  
They both laugh now.  
  
Their younger crewmates are quite a handful, but they have their own areas of expertise. The former is a decent runner, although awkwardly obsessed with Luffy, the latter a better swordsman than he expected, despite his excessive ego.  
  
There will be an unusual number of swords during the tournament, only the Revolutionary Army has at least three: Law’s impressive nodachi and Killer’s hand scythes, not to mention whatever white weapon Kid decides to put on his arm this year. Although fighting is not encouraged, it’s a common occurrence. As long as no one gets hurt, of course.  
  
On her part, Robin is on cloud nine.  
  
Astonished by his words, she fishes for his shirt and pulls him on top of her, crossing her legs behind his back to draw him closer.  
  
Her lips are already half apart as they hungrily crush on top of his.  
  
It’s just… she can’t believe how good she feels just by sitting on the couch with him, talking about school of all things. It feels natural, like breathing, or draping her tongue around his.  
  
Her body is very explicit in the signals it sends to her brain.  
  
If only her doorbell didn’t ring, startling the pair, Robin has no doubt she would _fuck_ him right here and now. Her right hand is already trailing down his navel and sliding further to get a feel of the… _thing_ she has occasionally felt poking her in different places as they made out in the past and, well, her sigh is really that of someone who has been caught with their fingers in the proverbial _honeypot_.  
  
“I… I guess dinner’s here”, Zoro pants, sharing the feeling. His eyes are glossy as he pulls away, his hand still firmly placed on her ribcage, just one inch or two from resting on her left breast. He has been itching to take the leap and see if she would like him to touch her there. They honesty looked glorious in that tub in Mystoria. “ _Uh_ ”.   
  
“I’ll get it”, she says, standing up quickly and rushing for the door.  
  
When Robin opens it, however, the person behind it is not the delivery-guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and happy birthday to me! 🥳  
> I hope this update has found you well, that you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll stay tuned for the next! 
> 
> (LawLu fans, I am looking at you. 💖 Something happens in the next chapter...)
> 
> A giant thanks to [@aspiringtrashpanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspiring_TrashPanda/pseuds/Aspiring_TrashPanda) for her continuous support, you have no idea how tremendously it helps! Go read her new story! And the old one! 
> 
> If you're active on either platform, here are my [tumblr](https://hiraethwrites.tumblr.com/) and my [twitter](https://twitter.com/fangirl_hiraeth). I'm always looking forward to new friends! 
> 
> Until next time. 💓


	19. Days Like These

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Luffy has a startling encounter on his way back home, and Sanji finds himself asking for the help of the person that irritates him the most (how he wishes he could just have dinner with Nami-swan and Robin-chwan without the stupid marimo).

“ _Jeez_ , that chicken was delicious… _Ah_ , thank you, Robin”.  
  
Luffy lets out a small burp and rubs his belly, a satisfied smile on his lips. When he knocked on the girl’s door earlier, he wasn’t expecting Zoro to be there, but _the more, the merrier_.  
  
Besides, he doubts Robin would have ordered enough food to split it three ways unless she was entertaining the swordsman for dinner. He has the appetite of a dragon, after all, even though he’s nowhere near as addicted to it as his captain.   
  
This puts him in the awkward position of Zoro listening in when he finally opens up about the reason he showed up on Robin’s doorstep this evening, but he is his best, oldest friend, so maybe getting his perspective, too, is not that bad of an idea.  
  
His exchange with Law yesterday is haunting him, unfolding over and over again in his brain.  
  
Why is he so cold and distant?  
  
They are not friends, but they’re neither strangers nor _enemies_. Well, except during the race, but that’s just three days every year, this one being the last, and they have always competed respectfully against each other.  
  
It’s the rest of the Revolutionary Army that resorts to under-handed tactics.  
  
He always had the feeling he liked him deep down, as much as Trafalgar Law likes other people, so why did he leave when he asked him about the cake? Luffy wasn’t even expecting a thank you, he only wanted to know if he enjoyed it. At this point, he wonders if he even ate it…  
  
Since he can’t tell what his schoolmate thinks unless he tells him directly, which, he snorts to himself, is unlikely, the Straw-Hats’ captain is determined to at least figure out why _he_ is so obsessed with Law nowadays. Sure, he always thought he was a pretty cool guy under all those layers of feigned indifference and neutral, unreadable expressions, what’s with all the tattoos and that sick hat of his, but he was never this… _intrigued_.  
  
Law is a mystery to unravel, and Luffy has been itching for an adventure.  
  
“So, what brings you here, Captain?”  
  
Zoro can’t say he appreciated the interruption, but that was an hour ago now, so he has had the time to come to terms with it. He has been acting weirdly all day, he can’t help but wonder if it has to do with the little secret Robin shared with him at the price of divulging their relationship.  
  
Not that he has minded paying it, but he kind of likes the small bubble around them.  
  
“ _Oh_ , right. I was just thinking…”, Luffy hesitates, reordering his thoughts. “Robin, remember when we were talking in Mystoria? In the spa”. She nods. “I was wondering what was so strange about ordering a cake if it’s someone’s birthday. Is that considered weird?”  
  
If she answers affirmatively, at least he’ll know why Law has been so weirded out by the gesture.  
  
“Quite the opposite”, she chuckles. “It’s perfectly normal…”  
  
“Then… _Why_?”, he turns to Zoro, scrunching up his eyebrows. “What made you curious?”  
  
Other people would probably be put off by the way he expresses concepts, with little to no context and leaving _a lot_ to other people’s interpretation, but the green-haired swordsman has had a lifetime to learn how to decipher him. He laughs. It’s not so bad letting the captain inside the bubble.  
  
“I have never seen you buy food for someone without expecting to eat at least some part of it, not even once”, Zoro says, “I just thought it was strange…”  
  
“Perhaps we should tell the captain the nature of our conversation in Mystoria…”  
  
However, Luffy has already stopped listening, startled by the revelation.  
  
Now that he thinks about it, though… he always gets something for himself, too, whenever he’s purchasing food for someone else. He just wanted Torao to have a birthday cake… But yes, normally he would have bought the cake and showed up on his doorstep (his house is not far from Garp’s mansion, after all), whilst in that occasion he just opted to have it quietly delivered.  
  
Some part of him suspected he intentionally missed the one Bepo and his friends made for him, and that Law wished to be left alone. What he can’t accept is that almost two weeks later he still seems bothered by whatever was troubling him then.  
  
“We were just talking about the guide at the temple trying to hit on you, and I said I wasn’t expecting you to reciprocate, because in the time we’ve known each other you never showed any kind of interest for anyone in that sense, so either you don’t care about sex, you’re in a committed relationship, or… You like Trafalgar Law”.  
  
“ _Eh_?”  
  
Luffy has been only half-listening, but he doesn’t miss the last bit. _Of course_ he likes Torao, the same way he likes anyone who doesn’t try messing with his nakama, but why does he have the impression that’s not quite what she means?  
  
What Robin is hinting at resembles more the kind of stuff that happens in the romantic movies Dadan is so fond of, those actionless, boring films in which all the characters do is kissing and coming up with stupid excuses not to be with the person they love.  
  
“I… You… _What_? Pfft–”  
  
Zoro smirks. “With your words, Captain”.  
  
“It’s okay, Luffy”, Robin stops the teasing, glaring at the swordsman. “You don’t have to tell us which one it is unless you want to”.

* * *

For the walk home, Luffy takes the longer route, still fretting over Robin’s statement.  
  
 _You like Trafalgar Law_.  
  
Although he didn’t claim it, excusing himself very soon after it came up, he can’t refuse it either.  
  
Gramps is in town, meaning Hachi was busy driving him around today and he came here without the car. He’s not allowed to dispose of his own vehicle despite having a regular license, something to do with the fact he gets distracted too easily, so it takes quite a bit of time before he finally reaches his neighborhood.  
  
Not that he minds.  
  
He often misses the chance to explore the city at his own leisure, protected from the outside but somehow trapped inside of a cage, so he has enjoyed the opportunity, and even bought pizza on his way back from Robin’s apartment. Zoro offered him a ride, as the time to leave had come for him as well, but he refused.  
  
The streetlights compensate whereas the lack of moonlight would make his surroundings pitch black, and Luffy finally walks through the tall, imposing iron gate that signals the beginning of one of the oldest, wealthiest areas in Grand Line City. His home is a bit further down the road, after about another ten minutes of walking, so he gingerly sprints down the street, eager to eat his after-dinner snack and go to bed.   
  
It’s not long before he catches up with someone moving in the same direction, but on the opposite sidewalk. There’s a limp in their walk as they drag their feet over the cement. As he gets closer, he spots a familiar hat.  
  
“ _Torao_?”  
  
Law’s eyes are widened, his jaw clenched, the expression on his face one of utter hopelessness. Luffy runs to his side, wincing when he notices the blood on his face.  
  
“Torao?”, he calls out again, with a softer voice. “What happened?”  
  
The other doesn’t reply, staring blankly into his eyes. The corners of his lips twitch slightly, as if he’s trying his hardest not to cry. He looks devastated, almost catatonic. Stealing a page from Robin’s book, he decides not to pester him for an answer. He is too worried about his current state, anyway.  
  
Carefully wrapping his hand around his right arm, Luffy lifts it behind his shoulder to support his weight. What Law needs the most right now is someone to clean the nasty cut on his cheek, and he’ll be damned before he lets his pain go on for longer that it takes to drag him to his house.  
  
He’d offer him a _piggyback_ ride, or to carry him bridal style, but he knows the other would never allow him, not if he’s conscious.  
  
“Let’s go”.  
  
There’s no trace of his previous doubts and conflict in Luffy as he quickly sprints into action.

* * *

Law sits on the edge of the bathtub, recoiling as the cotton ball smears the antiseptic all over his left cheek.  
  
All he can feel is _pain_.  
  
While the cut is not very deep, there’s a general ache all over his entire body, not to mention the very persistent throb on the top of his right femur.  
  
As an aspiring doctor, he’s aware of how dire his conditions truly are.  
  
Not so much that he’ll be permanently injured, but enough to make his day to day life _miserable_ in the next couple of days, and difficult to hide it.   
  
(When Doflamingo tried to raise his quota _again_ , Law protested. _That was not the deal_.  
  
When Doflamingo threatened to expose him to Cora-san, he told him that he would be exposed as well and his illicit traffics revealed to the public eye.  
  
When Doflamingo called for Diamante, the man who beat him up last time, Trafalgar Law put on a strong front, feigning arrogance. He did his best not to let the tears flow out at the pain, not to cry out as a sharp kick connected to his right side. He endured it all, the kicks, the taunts and the bag of potatoes that was repeatedly flung at his body, so that there would be no visible bruise on his body.  
  
When the knife came out, Law was forced to relent. Rosinante will be in town next week, the last thing he needs is for his father to get suspicious.  
  
When Doflamingo threatened to have all his metacarpals broken the next time he refuses to comply, his nephew saw his entire life flash before his eyes.  
  
 _No one fucks with his future_.)  
  
Once the small wound is disinfected Luffy then picks up another ball, dips it in the small plastic basin of warm water on his side and starts cleaning the rest of his face and neck, where the blood has dripped. His movements are slower and gentler now, and he repeats them until every trace of red has disappeared.  
  
“How is your leg?” He glances down at it, noticing that he keeps clutching it with his hand. “Do you want a painkiller _or_ …? I can still call Chopper. I’m sure he knows better…”  
  
“It’s fine”, Law hisses, although it really is _not_. The last thing he needs is for Chopper-ya to get involved in this. “The painkiller would be nice, though. Just bring me whatever you have. _Please_ ”.  
  
Straw-Hat’s face is closer to his than ever before. He has big, black eyes surrounded by thick, long eyelashes, a kind glance and a determination not many people of his age can muster.  
  
Everything he does appears effortless, like he doesn’t even have to think before he acts, but it suits him, somehow.  
  
The complete opposite of everything Law stands for but look where _that_ got him. Hurt and humiliated, breaking down inside of a rival’s service bathroom.  
  
The room is all white, and pristine, if not for the bloodied cotton balls that have been thrown on the sink – and himself.  
  
Luffy nods, standing up and opening the large cabinet standing across the room. He returns with a large box, placing it in the ground next to the injured boy. “You’re the one who wants to be a doctor”.  
  
Sighing, Law reaches down and picks up a smaller, familiar red box.  
  
 _This’ll do_. _Not sure I’ll get to be one, though, if Doflamingo ruins my hands_.  
  
He winces in pain as he stands up, but slowly he makes his way to the sink, where he pops the white pill in his mouth and gulps it down with some water.  
  
His thighbone is burning, so he clasps the sink for support.  
  
Law grimaces. _The rest of the week is going to be a bitch_.  
  
“You should sit, Torao”, Luffy instructs, closing the distance between them and grabbing his arm. He tries to drag him back to the tub, but to no end. The other lets out a strangled sound, and he freezes. “Law?”  
  
Law is glaring at where his hand is strangling his bicep.  
  
Only now he remembers the second cut, the one his uncle insisted to deliver personally, while the other realizes the fabric of his black hoodie is damp, soaked with blood.  
  
The iron grip around it certainly doesn’t help.  
  
Luffy lets go, as if burnt, looking up at his classmate with wide eyes. “I am so sorry, Torao”.  
  
Law knows it goes deeper than this last gesture, although he seems genuinely grief-struck by the thought of having caused him more pain.  
  
No, Straw-Hat is sorry on a higher level. He knows he is suffering, but that his body is not the only thing that’s aching.  
  
His arms sneak unexpectedly around his waist, pulling him into a hug.  
  
He is astonished. Law’s cheeks turn pink as he surrenders to the sudden act of kindness, placing his hand tentatively on his back. He wouldn’t do something like this under normal circumstances, being his father, Bepo and his occasional lovers the only people he allows to touch him, but nothing has been normal about today and Law, if only for a moment, is in desperate need of comfort.  
  
Gradually, he relaxes in his embrace, noticing two things at once: one, Luffy’s head is resting in the crook of his neck, where his lips accidentally brush against the sensitive skin, and two, he’s exceptionally warm.  
  
The sensation clearly doesn’t erase Law’s pain, but this is the best he has felt in _fucking_ weeks.  
  
It’s like all the heartache, the anxiety and the dread vanish for a moment, because all he can focus on is the heat emanating from the person who’s hugging him. He doesn’t know what compels him to do it, but it takes only a second for him to reach up and curl his fingers around the black strands on the nape of his neck, using his hold there to tilt his head back before lowering his mouth on his.  
  
Luffy releases a shaky, surprised sound, freezing temporarily. Just as he’s about to pull away and reconsider, strong hands close behind Law’s neck as a tentative mouth starts kissing him back.  
  
Straw-Hat is inexperienced, a little insecure at first as he tries to follow his partner’s guide, but soon he gets the gist of things, nibbing experimentally on his partner’s lower lip.  
  
His taste is… unique, with a sugary undertone, he feels quite nice pressed up on his chest, despite the dull ache of his ribs. So nice, indeed, that he pulls away only when in lack of oxygen.  
  
As soon as their lips stop touching, however, the spell is broken.   
  
Trafalgar Law looks just as much of a haunted animal as he did when Luffy found him, hurrying to where he left his backpack, as much as his limp allows, and then to the door.  
  
The other doesn’t utter a word, just following his movements with his eyes, a wild blush spreading on his cheek as incredulous fingers are raised to touch to his lips.  
  
He looks very… _pretty_ , gaping at him like a lost puppy, but Law shakes the thought away.  
  
“I’ll see you around, Straw-Hat- _ya_. Thank you for your help”, he pauses, noticing the disappointment on his face, and shows him the best smile he can produce. “And the cake. It was good”.  
  
 _Wait… what was that_?  
  
Cringing at his own words, Law hastily – again, as much as his limp lets him, so actually very slowly – exits the bathroom, navigating his way to the front door and closing it behind his back before his schoolmate can snap out of his daze and go after him.  
  
There are a hundred reasons why he shouldn’t have done it and one he is glad he did it. If only for five minutes, Luffy’s kiss has made him forget the tower of agony hovering over him, which is more than he can say of anyone else he knows. He usually doesn’t feel quite so… _excited_ from just a kiss.  
  
Law falls apart as soon as he gets home.

* * *

> **23** : **43** \- @ **thepirateking**  
>  _robin!!!_  
>   
>  **23** : **45** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _…yes, Luffy?  
>   
> _ **23** : **46** \- @ **thepirateking**  
>  _I think I do…_ 😅

* * *

Upon entering the house, Zoro instantly makes a beeline for his bedroom, where he grabs a clean change of clothing before heading to the bathroom.  
  
There he submits himself to the coldest shower he has had in quite some time, but memories from earlier today are still lurking on the back of his mind.  
  
If Luffy didn’t show up earlier, he’s not sure how he and Robin would have spent the twenty minutes between his arrival and the dinner’s delivery. Judging from the kiss she was giving him when the doorbell rang, it’s safe to assume there would be some touching and, who knows, with a bit of luck, even a little more.  
  
The swordsman tries to hold back, not to be that guy, he doesn’t want to rush into things and make her feel pressured, but there’s no denying her beauty, or the chemistry between them. While he keeps on planning to be respectful, Zoro is still made of flesh and blood – in the privacy of his shower, the water now warm, he doesn’t stop his hand from trailing down his body to take care of the problem which just re-manifested itself, nor does his stop his mind from wondering what earlier could have been…  
  
Coming out of the bathroom thirty minutes later, teeth brushed and practically ready to go to bed, the green-haired boy exits the room much more relaxed than when he entered. Forced to de-route downstairs because he left his phone on the entrance table, he is not expecting to find his sister still awake or smirking sardonically at him as she lounges on the nearby ottoman.  
  
“Perona? What are you doing here?”  
  
“ _Oh_ , don’t mind me”, the pinkette replies. “You should check your phone first. Someone’s been texting you”, she adds with a singsong voice, eyeing the black device. “Then you can tell me why you didn’t show up for dinner. We were waiting for you”.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that”, Zoro apologizes, scratching the back of his head. “I got a little caught up with my friends…”, he defends, weakly. “I’ll tell you beforehand next time”.  
  
Perona giggles. “ _Mh_ , caught up with Robin, perhaps?”  
  
“What do you mean?”, he deadpans.  
  
“She’s the one who has been texting you. Her name appeared on the notification”.  
  
“ _Ah_ ”.  
  
Zoro stares at her in a slight panic.  
  
He’s not ready for the merciless teasing breaking the news to his sister would warrant. Even this is too much already.  
  
“She missed school yesterday and I promised to send her my notes”.  
  
The lie is weak – his handwriting his utter _shit_ – but Perona seems to let it slide.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_ ”, she hums, “Sanji texted you as well, so maybe you should see what that’s about, too”.  
  
He glares at her.  
  
He doesn’t like it when she pokes her nose into his private stuff, especially his telephone. Luckily, it unlocks only with his fingerprint.  
  
While he normally doesn’t care much for tech, that's more of Usopp's thing, he has to admit that the feature is kind of cool – and handy.  
  
Zoro marches to the small table, picking up his phone and skimming through the texts.  
  
There’s two from Robin, who asks if he got home safely and wishes him a goodnight, to which he replies straight away, while the messy, incoherent sentences of the ero-cook take a bit longer to digest. He presses the call button as the prince’s ugly face stares at him from the screen.  
  
“… _Marimo_? Thank God!”

* * *

Sanji scowls as he stands by the front entrance of _Baratie_ , shivering slightly in the cold as he waits for his crewmate to pick him up.  
  
Franky was out tonight, and Usopp on a date with Kaya, so he can’t ask his roommates, whilst Chopper hasn’t gotten his license yet, Luffy doesn’t have a car and he would never disturb one of the girls at such an ungodly hour of the night, so his options are pretty limited.  
  
Zoro shows up little after midnight and, thankfully, he came with the car instead of the mortal trap he usually rides.  
  
When Zeff called him earlier today, panicking because he didn’t have enough cooks to cover the dinner shift, the blond could have never imagined that someone would have slashed all four of his tires as he slaved his ass off in the kitchen. That’s what he gets for never saying no to the _old-jeezer_.  
  
He flicks the cigarette away with a swift movement of his middle finger, boarding the car.  
  
The swordsman nods his head in acknowledgement and starts the car straight away, sliding smoothly back into the traffic. He gives Sanji the time to relax and warm up, without even protesting when he pulls down the window and lights up another cancer-stick. If he has called _him_ of all people, something bad must have occurred.  
  
“What happened to your car?”  
  
Sanji sighs. “My tires were cut when I finished my shift. I had no one else to call”.  
  
It’s embarrassing to admit, especially since they still haven’t cleared the air after their little argument yesterday.  
  
He didn’t mean to come out quite as strongly as he did, but when Zoro dragged Nami into it he just lost it.  
  
He _did_ tell Nami how he feels. Now he’s slowly dying as he waits for her answer.  
  
“ _Hn_ ”, the other grunts, “Any idea who did it? A witness or something?”  
  
“No, but there’s a camera in the parking lot, so I’ll just call my boss tomorrow and tell him that I need to see the footage. I’ll ask Franky if one of his father’s workshops can pick up my car and fix it for me”.  
  
Silence falls back again inside the vehicle. The radio is very low, almost inaudible, and the only sounds that keep them company are those from the streets they glide on top of.  
  
Sanji sinks deeper in the passenger seat, inhaling intently from his cigarette.  
  
“Look, _Zoro_ …”  
  
The swordsman snorts. If he’s calling him by his given name, then he must really be sorry about the things he said yesterday.  
  
With this background, Zoro can’t say he’s comfortable with his retorts either. As members of the same group, they know exactly what kind of venom works on the other: Sanji stole Tashigi’s words from their somewhat public breakup, whilst Zoro hit him right where it hurts the most – _Nami_.  
  
“Let’s call it even”, he shakes his head. The ero-cook owes it to Robin if he’s such in a good mood that he offers a truce. “We really should focus our energies on our external enemies right now. Just know, since you had the doubt, that I never planned on _playing_ with Robin. We’re just doing things our way”.  
  
“I know you’re serious about her”, Sanji acknowledges after a little while.  
  
It’s hard for him to admit that perhaps he has let out on his green-haired friend his frustrations over Nami not giving him an answer. Not that he deserves a positive answer if he’s unwilling to be a gentleman and let her take all the time she needs. He’s been in love with her for four years, but how come less than a month feels like an eternity?  
  
“You wouldn’t have bothered seeking her out otherwise”, he clarifies.

Tashigi was very clear when she told him to _fuck off_ in front of the entire crew, not that it elicited much of a reaction in Zoro: he didn’t put in the effort, whilst, from what he has seen so far, cannot be said of his relationship with Robin.  
  
“I’m sorry I overstepped”.

“And I am sorry for what I said about the witch. I understand why you’re hesitant…”  
  
“Only I stopped being hesitant. I told Nami”, the blond corrects him before he can even realize what he’s doing.  
  
 _Of all people, why am I telling this to the moss-head?_  
  
“I told her how I feel about her”.  
  
Zoro takes a moment to digest his words. His voice is pregnant with doubt and disappointment, but he’s not sure anything _he_ can say will make him feel better.  
  
This is _not_ his area of expertise.  
  
“ _And_?”  
  
“I also told her to think about it, but she hasn’t brought up the subject since then, so neither did I”.  
  
“Well, you know how she is”, the swordsman mumbles, uncertainly, “She’ll need to think this over until her brain nearly explodes, but she wouldn’t let you hang forever without an answer. Just be patient and, well, who knows, if you keep yourself in check and don’t flirt with every girl in your line of sight, I think your chances might be better than you think”.  
  
Sanji doesn’t ask him what makes him talk like this, it’s awkward enough they are having this conversation to begin with, but he’s grateful for the support, nonetheless.  
  
The _marimo_ is one of Nami-swan’s oldest, closest friends – the bond between them the very reason he started antagonizing him way back when.  
  
Briefly wondering what the other’s motives might have been, he lets out a sigh of relief once they leave the city center and the traffic becomes faster, familiar buildings popping up at every corner they turn. It won’t be long before they arrive, and neither speak a word for the rest of the drive to Sanji's apartment.  
  
“I’ll see you at school, moss-head”, he says once they park in front of his apartment. “Thank you”.  
  
“I’ll see you then, _dart-brow_. Goodnight”.  
  
They’ll probably be at each other’s throat before lunch tomorrow, but it’s nice to know he has friends who watch his back, even if they have ridiculous green hair and a natural predisposition to annoy him.

* * *

The following afternoon, Nico Robin is at Nami’s house, sitting on the latter’s queen-sized bed as she waits for her friend to change out of her uniform, her voice sometimes piping up in the distance as she browses through the infinite rows of clothes she has in her wardrobe.  
  
While she doesn’t mind a little shopping here and there, or high-quality garments, the dark-haired girl is quite astonished by the number of things stored inside her walk-in closet.  
  
Shoes, accessories, scarves, cocktail dresses… she has fifties of every category of objects.  
  
Robin understands now why she has never seen her friend sporting the same outfit _twice_.  
  
Her wait is not too long, Nami stepping back into her room less than ten minutes since they have arrived. She is wearing white sweatpants and a thick, fluffy pink sweater, her long orange hair now tied up in a ponytail. She picks up the infamous red binder from her desk (God forbids she takes it to school, where their competition might steal it) and jumps on the bed next to her.   
  
“Let’s get this over with”, she prompts, turning the pages until she reaches the one with Robin’s picture pinned on the top right corner.  
  
“Nothing from Ohara, other than some stuff you won at your old school”, Nami sums up, “Then Alabasta”, she points at some of the articles she has printed and glued to the binder. “To be honest I am kinda disappointed. I expected some darker stuff from the _Demon Child_ ”.  
  
“I guess that shitty school paper never made it to the web…”, Robin muses.  
  
That’s how she had been addressed in an article about a little accident she had in third grade, it’s the closest thing to a nickname she has ever had.  
  
“Anyway, I don’t think there’s anything missing. People may find out what kind of shady characters I hanged out with, or the stuff I took, but I’ve already told you guys about that”.  
  
She is still uncertain about Nami’s easy-going, accepting vibe. There’s only a small portion of the things that have been written about her after the princess’ attempted kidnapping, but it suffices to say that she has been described with every bad, derogatory word that can be used against a girl of her age.  
  
“I can’t believe they implied you were helping Crocodile. You’re the one who got Vivi out of there!”  
  
“I wasn’t looking for more publicity than what I was already getting. My schoolmates were quick to cast their judgement, changing stories then would have only made things worse…”, Robin sighs, “Besides, I already knew that was my last year in the desert. _Thankfully_ ”.  
  
“Why Grand Line City?”  
  
“My tutor called Kuzan after the whole affair with Crocodile. The police was involved and it was well known that I had associated myself with their group before, so when they tested my blood and the results were positive, you can imagine the kind of lecture I received. First time I saw him in two years. So, I cleaned myself up, or tried to, and filed my request for transfer. He wasn’t a teacher back in the day, so I had no idea he would turn out to be my math professor once I moved here”.  
  
Robin is not sure why she’s adding so much detail to her story, but it feels nice to let it all out of her chest for once. Her past, her trauma, her fear of being rejected. Nami has given her no reason to doubt her intentions.  
  
If anything, she is steadily proving to be the friend she has always wished she had, listening intently as she opens up and shares her fears with her, talking directly from the bottom of her heart.  
  
“… _Ah_ , _cheer up_ , _onee-chan_! As if you’re the only one who’s been badmouthed by the press. Get in line, dear. _Here_ ”, she pauses, flipping the pages until she reaches the chef’s dossier, “They are obsessed with Sanji… and what about myself?”, another flip, “ _Look_ , they find some ridiculous shit to print every single time a paparazzi catches my picture downtown. Joke’s on them if they think I’ll let them stop me from living my life as I please. Who’s next?”, third flip, “ _Uh_ , poor Shirahoshi… Even Kaya and Usopp made the headlines when they started dating! My point is, people will always talk, including journalists, and others will believe them even if they lie, _especially_ if they lie. What matters is that your friends know who you really are and stand by your side, Luffy taught me that”.

* * *

Surprisingly, Robin agrees when she invites her to stay for dinner and then to sleep at her house.  
  
Nojiko is, of course, working her ass off for the family company somewhere else, still trying to smooth out the business relationships that were inevitably crippled when their uncle was arrested for embezzlement, dragging the whole family into a scandal. That was three years ago, two since Bell-mère’s death: her younger brother, with whom she had been out of touch for literal decades, showed up, _uninvited_ , at her funeral, and from there slithered his way back into the company.  
  
Nami’s mother had been the only one who really knew what the man was capable of, the things he had done in the past, for which she had covered for the promise he wouldn’t return.  
  
Not even Bell-mère could outsmart cancer, sadly.  
  
Arlong rose quickly to the top ranks, opposed only by her daughters, and it was only by a _fluke_ named Monkey D. Garp that the police got wind of his traffics and decided to open an investigation on him.  
  
They are still recovering financially from his ventures, most of their profits being used to repay the debts he made on behalf of the company, but even with the man locked away in Enies Lobby, where he’s serving the life sentence his other crimes warranted ( _kidnapping_ , _extortion_ , _assault_ , _homicide_ …), Bell-mère’s youngest daughter still doesn’t feel as safe when she’s all alone in such a big house.  
  
She was here when Arlong sent his underdogs, Chew and Kuroobi, to _teach her a lesson_.  
  
Luckily for Nami her friends were there and stalled the two until authorities showed up, so the scars she got from the experience were only emotional, but it doesn’t mean they hurt any less.  
  
She truly is grateful when her crewmates don’t make her face them all by herself, and even more so when said crewmate has their own paranoia to deal with, although Robin’s leans very differently. Nami’s constant need for company takes the shape of the urge for solitude in the other girl, for locked doors, barred windows and thick, undisturbed silence.  
  
They are very different in this regard, but the former knows that the latter will learn that she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world solely on her shouders in her own time, as every Straw-Hat worthy of this name did.  
  
“Do you think that’s supposed to happen?”  
  
Robin taps her fingers on the marble counter, eyeing the strange mixture inside the pot with suspicion.  
  
The two are currently in the kitchen, trying to prepare some dinner, but neither is very talented in the field, knowing just enough to survive, and the stew inside the pan looks nothing like the picture printed next to the recipe, more like it’s about to… _explode_ any second now.   
  
“What?”, Nami turns around, eyes narrowing at the cooking pot. “Robin, _watch out_!”  
  
She can only lunge and push her friend away from the stoves when the tomato sauce eventually detonates, the scorching liquid splattering all over the otherwise white, immaculate kitchen.  
  
“Are you okay?”, she urges her friend, noticing that she has frozen now that Nami is sprawled on top of her, having the two fallen to the floor in their haste.  
  
She knows Robin doesn’t like to be touched (the sly part of her argues that she didn’t seem to mind it in Mystoria, when she found her _sitting_ on Zoro).  
  
Upon closer inspection, however, she discovers her assumption to be untruthful. Nico Robin is just trying her hardest not to laugh.  
  
Eyes squinted, her cheeks puffed like that of a baby, her entire face expresses her delight, low giggles somehow finding their way out of her lips despite her efforts, the low rumble in her chest unmistakable.  
  
Nami surrenders first and the two just remain there, sitting on the floor as if they’re wrestling, just laughing it out together until they both run out of breath.  
  
There’s still tears pricking out the corners of their eyes when she picks up the phone and snaps a picture of the mess around them.  
  
Pieces of meat have jumped out of the pot, too, and one is presently sticking to the back of her phone’s lilac cover, dripping with tomato sauce.  
  
She wipes it away on one of the kitchen towels, frowning slightly.  
  
Her eyes glare at Sanji’s name of the screen. She’s unsure whether asking for his help is the right choice, Nami doesn’t want him to think she’s ready to talk about what he admitted to in Mystoria, because _she is not_. Robin’s unhelpful grunt as she pokes what remains of the stew with a fork, as if the meat could suddenly stand up and attack her, make her realize it’s the only option.  
  
Only the blond chef can save them from starvation.  
  
That, and maybe she also wants to see Sanji, if in the presence of a chaperone.

* * *

> **19** : **02** \- @ **catburglar**  
> .📸 _  
> Sanji-kun._  
>   
>  **19** : **05** \- @ **chef’s-kiss**  
>  _What happened to that kitchen?  
>   
> _ **19** : **07** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _The stew just kinda decided to blow up in our faces…  
>  Robin and I are very disheartened by its lack of cooperation. _
> 
> **19** : **07** \- @ **chef’s-kiss**  
>  _No need to add more.  
>  I’ll be there ASAP. _

* * *

Punctual as clock, Sanji slips through the entrance door thirty minutes later.  
  
He’s carrying a paper bag with the Baratie’s logo printed on the front, from which an irresistible smell stirs up in warm waves.  
  
Nami’s eyes move from the food to the familiar green-haired head behind the cook, a questioning face on her look.  
  
“ _Ah_ , I apologize for imposing the _marimo_ on you, Nami-s _w_ an!”, he exclaims, “My car’s not ready yet, so I needed someone to drive me to the restaurant to check on the footage. The old _jeezer_ can't send an e-mail to save his life”.  
  
She seems content with his explanation, because she just greets Zoro with a smile and small nod before focusing her attention on his latter words.  
  
“So, what happened? Did the camera get the person who did it?”  
  
A low, odd growl can be heard from the swordsman, but it’s only when she turns to the blond and sees the pointed expression on his face that she realizes he didn’t like what he discovered.  
  
“ _Hey_ , Nami, thank you again for letting me borrow …”  
  
Robin pauses, taking in the sight before her as she steps into the open-space living area once more, having just changed into the non-stained clothes after helping her friend cleaning her kitchen. They weren’t expecting the chef to arrive accompanied, so her eyes linger on the taller boy standing next to him.  
  
“ _Oh_ , hello, you two”, she greets them, “I see you have come to our rescue”.  
  
Parts of her itch to move closer and kiss Zoro, which she would probably do if Nami was their only witness, but Sanji is staring awkwardly at the space between them, as if he’s waiting for some grandiose romantic moment to happen, and it makes her freeze.  
  
“ _Hey_ ”.  
  
The swordsman shows her a lopsided grin, cupping the side of her face to press a feather-light kiss on her mouth, lingering there barely long enough for Robin’s brain to register the information.  
  
He carries another bag with the restaurant’s logo, nonchalantly making his way to the kitchen and placing it on top of the counter.   
  
The other three follow him, where Sanji pales at the sight of what was supposed to be their dinner.  
  
“ _Good grief_ ”, he exhales, sharply, before turning to the two ladies feigning innocence. “You beautiful, beautiful _savages_ ”.  
  
His hands are swift and precise as they handle the different containers expertly, platting some of the food and heating up the things that need to be eaten while still warm.  
  
In less than ten minutes the four of them are sitting at the kitchen table, digging into the delicious food Zeff prepared especially for them.  
  
The old-jeezer may be a pain in his ass more often than not, but he cares about the Vinsmoke prince like he is a son, deeper and better than Judge ever did.  
  
Since he was there when they watched the footage, it goes without saying that he’s a little worried about him.  
  
Sipping from his water, he steadies himself to finally answer Nami’s earlier question. Now that Robin is here, too, he should probably get this over with.  
  
“I know who slashed my tires the other night, but sadly their face was covered the entire time”.  
  
“Were they wearing a hoodie? Or they just knew the camera was there?”, Nami inquires. She doesn’t like the expression on his face. It scares her. “How can you be so sure?”  
  
“The tattoos on their hand. They made sure they were visible when they flipped their middle finger at the camera”, the sous-chef continues, but he’s soon interrupted by Zoro, “It was _Killer_ ”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally did it, everyone. *pops champagne* THEY KISSED. 😍  
> I hope this chapter was worth your wait thus far and don't worry, this is only the beginning (chapter 23, I am looking at you). 
> 
> p.s. my cat turned 15 yesterday, so perhaps you should leave a comment? It's for my cat, I promise! 😇
> 
> p.p.s. you should totally listen to the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLKb4Wa8DD0) titling this chapter, if only because the band is called "The Cat Empire" and that's as badass as names get imho. It's also part of my [Luffy](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3lRGEwcj7sqEJAxexzB0qo?si=zgbx2HdxQuuREHqaMD37yw) playlist for this story!


	20. Knee Socks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Nami and Robin confide in one other during an impromptu sleepover, and the latter then follows her own advice: if you want something, you should reach out and aim for it. Sometimes the (door)bell saves you, sometimes it doesn't.

"...It was Killer".  
  
Needless to say, the sudden revelation dampens the mood. Nami gets slightly manic as she starts muttering curses under her breath, astonished by the amount of _fuckery_ her ex’s friends are displaying towards hers.  
  
“Are we sure this boy isn’t in need of help?”, Robin inquires, weakly.  
  
She can’t believe the kind of stunts some of her schoolmates pull.  
 _  
To think that New Marineford seems such a prime and proper place_ …  
  
“ _Help_?”, Nami yelps, “I’m afraid it’s too late for help! _Unbelievable_ …”  
  
“The damage wasn’t too serious, just forced me to rely on my feet for a couple of days”, Sanji soothes, smoothly, dipping the spoon into his bowl of soup. He is sitting next to the orange-haired girl, he can tell she’s crossed by the dark aura she emanates. “Not sure what they were hoping to achieve, though”.  
  
“More like you relied on _my_ car driving you around”, Zoro snorts, but he’s soon distracted by Robin asking him to hand her the jug of water. He complies with a smile to her request, only for his breath to itch when her nails dig gently into his inner thigh.  
  
The black sweatpants he put on after his training aren’t the best in terms of support, just something he threw on after the shower because it’s comfortable, so it’s only a matter of mere inches, perhaps even less, if her hand doesn’t come into contact with the part of him that will promptly stir up if she keeps up with this attitude.  
  
They are covered by the wooden table, so Nami and the ero-cook are none the wiser about the slow, tentative brush of her fingers on his leg. Eventually she is forced to lift up her hand in order to eat, letting Zoro return to his normal color and not the tomato hue he’s sporting, but he is still pretty flustered by the time the dessert comes around, so he decides to retaliate. _Bad, bad call_.  
  
Just as he smirks to himself and brings his left hand to her thigh, placing it in exactly the same spot she did earlier and casually leaving it there, relishing in the sideway, baffled glance she throws at him, fate decides to one-up the swordsman itself when Sanji produces not only a cake, but strawberries, too.  
  
If the small, red, juicy fruit isn’t already enough, the pervert then puts on the table – _but of course_ – a pot filled with hot, melted chocolate, inviting everyone to dig in. There’s no way _that_ choice was random, he’d be ready to bet his best sword on it.  
  
Well, maybe not Wado Ichimonji, and most definitely not Yoru when his father eventually retires and passes it to him (“ _As long as you deserve to wield it, Zoro_ ”).  
  
Regardless, he hates the deviant chef’s choice of dessert, because it forces him to sit through a torture that takes all his willpower to endure. It’s only because of years of training and meditation that he remains cool as Robin nonchalantly dips the fruit in the chocolate before circling her pretty lips around it. Each time, before she bites the strawberry, the chocolate is removed by swift flicks of her tongue and little suctions. Each strawberry takes two bites, she eats eleven strawberries. Twenty-two leaps of his heart.  
  
If Nami notices either his discomfort or Robin’s amusement ( _she probably does_ ), she doesn’t show it, keeping the chef occupied as she compliments the food and he chants the merits of the restaurant that’s practically his second home.  
  
Tomorrow being a school day, all four teenagers know that it would be an awful idea to set up a movie and open a bottle. Zoro still needs to drive Sanji back to his home, whilst the other two will need to step by Robin’s house before school so that she can change into a uniform that’s not stained with meat and tomato sauce from their earlier cooking experiment.  
  
Nami and the chef temporarily retreat to the former’s bedroom to check on something, but Zoro doesn’t hear _what_.  
  
As soon as the two disappear behind the corner chatting merrily, he has his girlfriend pinned to the wall, one hand supporting the back of her neck as the kiss makes her tilt her head back, the other caressing her back, beneath her shirt, where he can’t help but notice the lack of some type of string signaling the presence of a bra. _Oh boy_ …   
  
On her part, Robin is just as bewitched – the hard planes of his chest and abs are pressed up against her softer, smaller body in all the right places, arms to shoulders, back to neck, there isn’t a single muscle in his torso her fingers don’t explore, her sense of touch heightened to its limit as she relishes in the heat that’s coming off him in waves.  
  
He is always warm, like a walking, breathing blanket, but the temperature just becomes unbearable when they kiss like this, their tongues tangled in a desperate chase.  
  
Whenever her arms wrap around him and their lips meet, she finds it very hard to let go of him.  
  
When he pulls back, resting his forehead on hers, hands still wrapped around her waist, Robin can’t stop an adoring sigh from escaping her lips as she looks up at him. “I thought you were training today”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , trust me, I got my ass handed to me just fine”, he jocks, reminiscing about the ominous session of weightlifting and sparring he has undergone in the afternoon. “I was about to go home when twirly-brow required my assistance, so when he told me you’d be here tonight…”  
  
He doesn’t complete the sentence, but he doesn’t need to. He expressed the desire to spend more time with her yesterday when he left her apartment after dinner, but _technically_ they weren’t supposed to see each other today, so it’s nice that fate has brought them together anyway. Since she never meant to insinuate he lied to her about the training (she is damaged, not _toxic_ ), she places a light kiss on the corner of his mouth, “I was starting to miss you…”  
  
Her voice comes out raspier than she intends, but the coy overtones match perfectly the imperceptible twinkle in her blue eyes, where her pupil has now reduced the cornflower portion to a small ring.  
  
It’s with a bashful smirk that he tucks a raven strand behind her ear. His teeth graze experimentally on her lobe, eliciting a moan from Robin that’s different from the ones she usually lets out when they kiss. It sounds a bit more… _erotic_ , and it sends an impulse to his brain that it’s impossible to overrule.  
  
One of his hands reaches down until it closes around her shapely ass in a squeeze, his lips now leaving a trail of wet kisses on her jaw. She makes that sound again. Zoro is just about to take the leap, finally use the other hand, which is still rubbing lazy circles on her back, move it to the front and rest it on her chest. Based on how they look in her clothes, or in that tiny bikini she wore in Mystoria, her breasts must feel _glorious_.  
  
 _One second more and he will_ … _fuck it_ , _he’s doing this_.  
  
Steps approach, echoing in the distance. “…Thank you again for letting me borrow it, Sanji- _kun_ ”.  
  
Thirty seconds later, as Nami and Sanji turn the corner and return to the entrance, the latter carrying a shopping bag, the couple is just hugging, a smile on their faces as they stand by the door.  
  
Zoro would pat himself on the shoulder for his acting performance, although he knows that most of the merit goes to the sweatpants hiding his present… _situation_.  
  
The two boys are promptly ushered outside by Nami, who mutters something about “ _girl’s night_ ”. They walk down the path in the front garden, heading for the swordsman car. The pervert cook (although, arguably, _he_ is the one with the half-deflated erection) holds the shopping bag close to his chest, as if containing a treasure.  
  
“ _Oi_ , stupid”.  
  
“ _Fuck you_ , _moss-head_ ”.  
  
“You _answered_ , genius. What’s in the bag?”  
  
“If you must know, _crappy_ swordsman, Nami asked if she could borrow one of my flannels for a picture she wants to post on her social media, something about starting a fashion blog”.  
  
“You have flannels? I’ve never seen you wearing one of those”.  
  
Sanji snorts. “I suppose I do now”.  
  
Zoro laughs, a deep, unrestrained sound that echoes through the empty street.  
  
“You know what, _Sanji_ - _kun_?”, he mocks him. “That sound like the kind of shit her _boyfriend_ would do”.

* * *

Back inside the house, Nami pretends she hasn’t noticed her friend’s discombobulate state after she left her alone with the swordsman, nor the unusual brightness of Zoro’s grin as he said goodbye and followed Sanji outside the door.  
  
She knows better than to tackle the problem directly, so, patiently, she waits for Robin to relax, distracts her with idle, unimportant chattering as the two move to her bedroom for the night.  
  
Setting up the guestroom would require the exploitation of energies neither of them cares to summon now, so they decide they’ll just share Nami’s mattress.  
  
Words flow easily between the two as they breach numerous subjects, from upcoming class assignments to what members of the crew have been up to lately.  
  
Something tells her that Robin knows more about the captain’s recent mood-swings than she lets on, but she decides not to push her on the matter.  
  
Her words provide the perfect cue to change the topic of discussion.  
  
People who have met her at least once would know just how curious and petulant she can get.  
  
 _Seriously_ , it’s stronger than her – she doesn’t even do it consciously. If there’s information ( _juicy, profitable information_ ) to be discovered, then every corner of her brain itches to learn it.   
  
“…If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Luffy is in love”, she jokes, although she doesn’t miss the mild panic that flashes through Robin’s blue eyes. _Mh, interesting_ …  
  
“Speaking of _love_ ”, she resumes, showing an innocent smile that makes her looks anything _but_ innocent. “You and Zoro were looking pretty _chummy_ earlier…”  
  
Now, the dark-haired girl is not stupid, she knows it’s a trap.  
  
She can practically see Nami lay down a body of dead leaves over the hole in the ground that’s supposed to swallow her. What she doesn’t sense, however, it’s ill-intent. Hazelnut eyes are staring inquisitively at her, but nothing in neither her expression nor her posture, her head tilted on one side, suggest she is interested in anything more than being supportive.  
  
Nico Robin has never had a boyfriend she could _gush_ about, or a friend like Nami to tease her over it. This is uncharted territory for her, but it doesn’t seem hostile for now.  
  
“What about it?”, she asks, tentatively.  
  
“ _Oh_ , nothing”, Nami smirks, inspecting her nails. “It’s just… _odd_. Zoro, Luffy and I have been friends since we were obnoxious little kids”, she pauses, her smile softening as memories from the trio’s childhood adventures come rushing back to her, “Zoro, he… I don’t know, I guess I am just _surprised_?”  
  
Robin chuckles. “ _Mh_ , surprised. Did you think he likes men or?”  
  
“No, _silly_ , although it would explain all those weird sexual overtones his fights with Sanji sometimes get”, Nami laughs as well, clutching at her sides. The two exchange a knowing look, then burst out in a stronger fit of laughter. “Anyway, I was merely implying I’ve never seen him like… _this_ ”, she puffs her cheeks, unimpressed by her own vocabulary, “…He has one previous girlfriend that we know of, but, _err_ ”, the girl pauses, not sure whether she should continue. Zoro would probably appreciate the opportunity to tell her about it himself. “Well, let’s just say he never looked at her the same way he looks at _you_. The same goes for you, Robin. We haven’t known each other for a very long time, but I can tell you’re somehow different when he’s around, too”.   
  
“I guess there’s no better way to put it”, her friend says, wiggling her eyebrows.  
  
There’s an adorable pink-hue on her cheeks as her gaze goes out of focus for a moment, without a doubt to daydream about her relationship with the swordsman. It’s just a fleeting second, but Nami doesn’t miss it.  
  
“ _Ugh_ , I don’t even know where I should start”, Robin groans, covering her face with her hands.  
  
“Oh, I do”, the other pipes up. “Come with me, onee- _chan_ ”.  
  
They throttle barefooted to Nojiko’s bedroom, which, upon a quick glance, looks much somber than her sister’s. Nami marches confidently for the wooden dresser across the room, fumbling with the contents of one of the drawers until she produces a small box from it, pumping her other fist in the air triumphantly.  
  
“ _Ah-ah_!”, she boasts. _Got ya_ , _Nojiko_. “It’s just my sister’s personal stash”, she adds upon noticing the questioning look she is receiving. She opens the small box, showing her what’s inside. “You don’t have to join me if you don’t _want_ to…”  
  
Robin smiles darkly. _If only_ pot was what she meant when she told them she had been detoxing after her stint in the desert. 

* * *

They walk out to Nami’s bedroom’s private balcony to smoke.  
  
Weed isn’t exactly legal in Grand Line City, although personal use is somewhat tolerated, but they don’t have to worry about any of that because the property extends very far, so literally no one can smell it in the air without committing trespassing themselves.  
  
The orange-haired girl listens intently, albeit cringing from time to time, as Robin details the beginning of her relationship with the swordsman, the book that unexpectedly broke the ice between them ( _Nami can’t believe her luck, there’s no way she’s not teasing Zoro about that_ …) and their last minute date the day of his first kendo competition this year. Once she decides to open up, helped tremendously in the task by the green flower, it doesn’t take long for her friend to notice that she’s very… _blunt_.  
  
Whilst technically it’s Nami the one who demanded she spared no detail, it is still very odd to hear about the small incident in the hotel bedroom, or the reaction it caused in Robin. Zoro is not bad-looking, she supposes, and many of her acquaintances have asked her to introduce them to the green-haired boy in the past, but just like Luffy she is used to think of him as a brother, so while she is always eager to collect juicy gossip, it’s still a bit unsettling to hear, albeit vaguely, of his (almost) sexual escapades.  
  
Well, according to Robin they haven’t had sex _yet_ , and she seems pretty… disappointed by it. Nonetheless, Nami is grateful when she eventually changes the topic, but it’s her turn to get all red-faced and stammering as Robin asks, “What about you and Sanji, Nami-san?”  
  
Nami inhales, deeply, from the joint, feeling her muscles relaxing all at once despite the evident tightness that the question causes in her chest. She laughs, nervously, “Sanji and I?”  
  
“Do you still want me to pretend I believe the little story about your friend?”  
  
Nami snorts, then takes a deep breath before returning her the joint. “You know how he got very drunk in Mystoria? He joined me when I was sitting by the pool and… Well, Sanji said he _loves_ me”.  
  
Robin nearly chokes on the smoke.

* * *

“…And that’s it, I think. According to him, he has been in love with me for _years_ ”.  
  
“ _Wow_ ”.  
  
Robin is flabbergasted by the tale.  
  
She can’t believe there’s so much going on behind the curtains of Nami and Sanji’s friendship, but she finds herself pining for the two.  
  
While she understands the former’s concern, she can’t help but think they would make an amazing pair.  
  
They are made of the same stuff of quality fiction. _Slowburn_ , _mutual pining_ , _friends to lovers_ \- they have it all.  
  
“I see why you feel so conflicted”, she adds. They have now returned back inside, and they are sprawled on top of the bed as they stare at the night sky painted on her ceiling. She recognizes some of the constellations, but she’s too baked to raise her arm and point them out. “No matter what you decide, your relationship with him _is_ bound to change. Either you become a couple, or he’ll let go at some point. Just make sure your heart won’t break when he eventually falls in love with someone else…”  
  
There’s not too much conflict here, in her humblest opinion.  
  
He loves her and she sounds like she loves him just as passionately ( _although she never_ , _never admits it_ ), so why exactly Nami is holding back so much, denying herself a chance at happiness, is beyond her.  
  
Sure, no one can assure her that nothing will go wrong, they’ll be together forever and marry at some point, but one thing she has learnt by her brief stay in New Marineford is that positive outcomes are sometimes dished out by destiny if one is willing to take a risk.  
  
“That’s not _helpful_ ”, Nami groans, swatting her lightly on the arm. “When I see him with Viola, I just want to set the whole world on fire”.  
  
“That’s a picturesque way to say that you’re jealous”, Robin chuckles, turning her head on the side so that she can stare into her friends’ eyes.  
  
Then, with a serious expression, she adds, “I can’t tell you what to do, but I have listened to all of the reasons you have listed as to why you should turn him down and…”, Robin pauses, not sure how her leap of forwardness will be taken. “…I think you’ll regret it if you don’t even try”.   
  
“Then what do I do when _shit_ inevitably hits the fan?”, Nami retorts. “I _can’t_ lose him”.  
  
“ _Fufufu_. I don’t think you could, not even if you tried your very hardest”.

* * *

* * *

> **10** : **05** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _good morning, princess_  
>   
>  **10** : **17** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Mh. Hasn’t been one so far_.  
>  _At the very least is Friday_.   
>   
> **11** : **01** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _have something big planned?_  
>   
>  **12** : **15** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Not really, no…_  
>  _So it means I can relax._  
>   
>  **14** : **48** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _I take it you wouldn’t want to go to the movies later, then?_  
>   
>  **14** : **52** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _It depends. What’s the movie?_  
>   
>  **14** : **59** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _emh…  
>  …_  
>  _…_  
>  _…_  
>  _…frozen 2._  
>  _sabo doesn’t want to watch it with me._  
>   
>  **15** : **02** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _I’ll be there.  
>  I’m always in the mood for Elsa._  
>   
>  **15** : **04** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _want me to pick you up?_  
>   
>  **15** : **06** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Nah, you live on the other side of town.  
>  Just give me a time and place. I’ll meet you there. _  
>   
> **15** : **07** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _5.45 p.m. in front of the one in midori district?_  
>   
>  **15** : **09** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  👍👍👍 _  
> I’ll see you later._  
>   
>  **17** : **37** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _I’m a little early so I’ll just wait for you by the entrance  
> _  
>  **17** : **42** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _I’m here!!  
>  Ok I think I see you_  
>   
>  **19** : **33** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _can we talk?_  
>   
>  **19** : **54** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Stop texting me._

* * *

* * *

Robin is checking her reflection in the mirror when the doorbell rings, startling her as expert fingers tame the wild raven strands of her bangs. The fact she knows who’s at the door, or that she is the one who invited Zoro to her apartment, does not make her any less nervous.  
  
Following the little piece of advice she gave Nami yesterday, the girl has convened she should grab the proverbial bull by the horns: if she wants to get more _physical_ with him, like her body so desperately suggests when they’re together, then she should just do it, create an opportunity and exploit it.  
  
How the swordsman will reply to her making a move can’t be assumed for sure, of course, but his previous responses to her touch make Robin optimistic. With the kind of… arousal he inspires with just his kisses and subtle squeezes of her ass, it goes without saying that she has thought, long and hard, about doing spicier things to _and_ with him.  
  
While she’s not going to just take off her clothes and jump on him, although for a moment she wonders what kind of face he would make if she did something like that, the evening she has planned out for them, movies, dinner and drinks, should be suggestive enough.  
  
The others are going to the opening night of a new club on the other side of town, so no Straw-Hat will barge through the door and interrupt them – that is the main crux, every time things are just about to… _escalate_ , something or someone comes up and breaks the magic. _Not today_.  
  
With a deep breath and a final glance at the mirror, Robin walks out of her bedroom and to the front door, behind which the swordsman is waiting for her with a loop-sided grin.  
  
“ _Hey there_ ”, he mumbles, leaning forward to place a kiss on her cheek.  
  
He’s wearing a dark coat, green hair peeking timidly from the black beanie on his head. The tops of his cheeks are tinted pink, his steps a little clumsier than usual.  
  
There’s a hint of brandy in his breath.  
  
All the clues point in the same direction: he is tipsy.  
  
She wouldn’t call him drunk, as his resistance to alcohol makes it a somewhat rare occurrence, but he’s not entirely sober either. _How interesting_ …  
  
“How heartless of you”, she pouts, “You started the party without me”.  
  
Robin grabs him by the wrist and pulls him inside, closing the door behind them.  
  
“My father’s best friend stopped for a visit. Even _you_ couldn’t refuse a drink from that guy… And it would be fine, really, if only he then didn’t offer you the second, the third, the fourth… Before you get mad, Kumashi drove me here, that’s why it took so _fucking_ long. Like I said, my father was there. _Still is_ ”.  
  
“I’m sure you were having a great time”.  
  
“ _Hn_ ”, his arms wrap around her again. “I like it better here”.  
  
Truthfully, he is having quite the time of his life. He drunk from the grownups stash, there’s no school tomorrow and the rest of his evening ( _he doesn’t really care what they do_ ) includes Robin (his heart does beat a little harder when she points out the cabinet and asks him if she wants to have a drink with _her_ ).  
  
Zoro follows her to the sofa, noticing the DVDs placed on the otherwise empty coffee table. There’s a clattering of glasses as the girl retrieves two small cups and a bottle from the cabinet.  
  
“What’s the occasion?”  
  
“Why, can’t I just offer you a drink”, she rebukes, playfully, patting her way back to the couch. Setting the items down, she then proceeds to pour two cups of sake.  
  
It’s not her favorite drink, but her boyfriend is obsessed with it. The smile he shows upon recognizing the name on the label makes it worth the hassle of researching sake brands on internet.  
  
“This was supposed to be opened after dinner, but I think you’ll appreciate it more now that the other stuff hasn’t worn off already. _Cheers_ ”.  
  
She makes to raise the glass to her lips, but he stops her, wrapping his arm around hers to drink.  
  
The sake rushes down his throat with the usual burning sensation, amplifying the feeling of absolute relax he’s experiencing as he sinks deeper into the couch. Robin pours two more glasses.  
  
“Trying to get me drunk?”  
  
“What if I am?”, Robin smiles, darkly. Inside, she’s imploding.  
  
If anything, the only reason she’s joining him is that she would feel like a _sexual predator_ if he was the only one with alcohol in his bloodstream. Besides, the main reason she usually doesn’t drink is that she doesn’t trust herself too much around others, but she trusts herself around him, and she trusts Zoro around her.  
  
“Then I may think you’re trying to seduce me or something…”  
  
“ _Oh_ ”. He doesn’t miss the lovely hue coloring her cheeks and he mentally thanks Shanks once more for the drinks. Alcohol makes him bolder, if he didn’t have any he wouldn’t have been as cheeky and therefore never evoke such a reaction on Robin’s part. “And do you think I would be successful, Swordsman-san?”  
  
She has moved now, like a cat ready to pounce on a reckless mouse. She’s supporting one elbow on the back of the couch, head propped in her hand. Her eyes don’t look away as she gulps down her sake.  
  
Zoro is so bewitched by the sight in front of him, he almost spills his own.  
  
She is wearing a jeans skirt with suspenders that exposes a great portion of her long, slender legs and a black long-sleeved shirt, black knee-socks and no shoes. From the very moment he has entered the house, he has been wondering whether she’s trying to give him a heart attack.  
  
Here he is, trying to be a gentleman, while Robin does her best to make it a hundred times harder.  
  
Is she… is she serious? Well, to be fair, her body language suggests that _yes_ , _she is_ , but it still sounds crazy to him that she would reciprocate his mad urge to literally jump on her.  
  
Zoro tilts his head to the side. “Well, there’s no way you would fail”.  
  
Robin doesn’t say anything to that, although the jolt of pleasure his voice causes echoes through all her nerves. She slides a little closer to him on the seat, turning her attention to the DVDs.  
  
“Do you have a preference?”  
  
“ _Uh_ , middle one”, he grunts, without even looking. He waits for Robin to return to the sofa as the movie starts playing on the tv in front of them before he adds, “Do you care?”  
  
She sits next to him once more, but he finds that it’s not enough. Sneaking a hand around her waist, he turns her around and pulls her into his lap, stroking his hand up her side until it cups the side of her neck.  
  
“No, not really–”  
  
Any further inquiry is silenced by the swordsman’s lips as they close on Robin’s. His kiss doesn’t follow the usual steps ( _gentle, needy, hungry_ ), but starts off directly as voracious, in response to which his girlfriend can only melt like putty in his hands.  
  
The hand he still keeps behind her back pushes her closer and closer to his chest, to the point she’s not sure who’s actually doing the seducing… but she’s determined not to let him get the upper hand quite this easily.  
  
While there’s not much she can attempt whilst trapped between a steady hand and a hard chest, she can still rock her hips gently as she kisses him back.  
  
Time becomes a foreign concept as people talk inside the tv (there’s an explosion at some point, _kaboom_ , someone probably died in there) and all the two can focus on is the person in their arms.   
  
Zoro’s not sure how he ended up in his current position on top of her, but at some point his hands have sneaked inside her shirt, palming tentatively the soft skin of her abdomen, and when no protest arose as his fingertips started trailing further and further up, eventually his hands closed around her breasts.  
  
Now, he may be more of an _ass_ guy, not that she’s lacking in that department, but her boobs are a startling discovery as what little blood was left in his brain runs south.  
  
The quiet little whimpers she lets out in his mouth aren’t helping, either, but he continues his exploration, focusing on the left one as the other hand reaches down, grabbing her butt and pressing her even closer to himself.  
  
On her part, Robin is way too happy to comply. She’s not a big fan when he breaks off the kiss and brings his lips to her neck, having lost her only way to muffle the sighs that so often escape out of her mouth, but other than that she’s enjoying herself tremendously.  
  
She already knew that she likes the feel of his hands on her skin, but _boy_ , she wasn’t prepared for the wave of liquid pleasure they send through her body. With frustration, she takes a mental note not to wear a bra the next time she plans to engage him in a certain type of activity… _Seriously_ , though, is he trying to torture her or something- _Oh God_.  
  
Zoro seems to come to her same conclusion, there is still too much fabric acting as a barrier between them, because his thumb hooks the top edge of her left cup and slowly pushes it to the side, fingers flicking up again to rub experimentally over her nipple.  
  
It may not be the first time someone touches her there, but she can’t recall a single instance where the gesture has felt quite so… _stimulating_ in the past. Her surprise is revealed as a higher-pitched sound slips out of her parted lips, followed by another when he pinches her nipple harder in response to the first one.  
  
His breath is just as labored as he peppers her jaw and neck with small, wet kisses, nibbling and sucking lightly on her skin. The swordsman’s body is incredibly hot as it grinds on top of hers, his own arousal now tangible and explicit, she can feel it digging into her thigh.  
  
 _God bless_ _his obsession for sweatpants_ – was he wearing jeans, it wouldn’t be as easy to subtly shift her hips and let _it_ rest right where she wants it (between her legs).  
  
Robin feels more than hears the groan he stifles on her throat.  
  
The boy finds it a bit hard to stay focused on his current ministrations, as every inch of his throbbing erection (and there’s quite a few) relishes in the unexpected friction as her long legs wrap tightly around his back and pushes it closer and closer to the only piece of her that he is still unfamiliar with.  
  
His mouth retraces its previous steps until it’s once more pressing on top of hers, which, he can’t help but feel an odd twinge of pride at the sight, has turned red and swollen (in one word, _luscious_ ) because of the kisses he placed there earlier.  
  
The last of his control slips away as Robin releases her hold on his neck and lets her hands wander south, where they slip beneath his shirt and her fingertips trace every hard line they can find (again, there’s quite a few). Judging from her shaky breaths, pink cheeks and merciless tongue, she’s into this just as much as he is, although he didn’t believe that was quite possible.  
  
Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste – albeit triggered to different degrees, she has each of his senses simultaneously under attack.  
  
He will, of course, cease all activities if she just as much as shakes her head “ _No_ ”, but he doesn’t feel the usual instinct to stop, the usual nagging voice in the back of his mind, ordering him to sit back and calm down because he won’t let his stupid and over-excitable penis ruin what he has with this girl, remains silent.  
  
Right now, every little fear and doubt is overwhelmed by the need to make her feel good. Sure, some of his concerns are understandable, but the potential prize is absolutely worth the risk.  
  
He wonders what’s going on in her mind, if she’s over-thinking it just as much as he is. Her body suggests _no_ , as her hands go directly for what she fancies, the hard-on soaring between his legs, making it his turn to pant and struggle to contain his reaction to her touch.  
  
As his tongue wrestles hers with renewed devotion, Zoro lets one of his own hands reach for her lower body, fingers closing around her left knee as it starts gliding up her thigh slowly, slithering beneath her skirt until it gets to her hip-bone. The jeans fabric feels rough on the back of his hand, it’s a sharp contrast with the smooth, soft skin of her leg.  
  
He hasn’t read enough books to find some poetic way to describe the sensation, but he’s sure very little pleasures in life can compare to it and he can’t think of one which surpasses it right now.  
  
There’s no time or space left for doubts or insecurity, it’s just him and Robin (beautiful, smart, funny, _unbelievable_ Robin).  
  
His wet dreams have gotten less blurry and exponentially more detailed recently, making him toss and turn in his bed at night and take cold showers during the day, to the point one would think it’s still summer and not the middle of _fucking_ October.  
  
If said dreams are anything to go by, then her face must look just _exquisite_ while she’s having an orgasm.   
  
Zoro lets his hand rest on her hip for a full minute, giving her the time to adjust to the sudden shift of atmosphere. Well, it’s not like things weren’t getting pretty heated already, but it’s the first time he makes such a direct move, so while he hopes she doesn’t suddenly change her mind and pushes him away, he wants to make sure she fully understands what he intends to do.  
  
Robin just kisses him harder, squeezing his sides with her long legs as her thumb rubs intently on the sensitive skin at the tip of his manhood. His grip tightens on her thigh as the feel of _that_ hits his brain, but it’s only when two of his fingers slide to the right and palm tentatively the soft fabric of her underwear, finding it warm (and _damp_ ), that any and all thoughts cease to exist.  
  
Her breath itches, then, “ _Mh_!”  
  
 _Seriously_ , _though_ , _fuck it_. He wants to do it, she wants him to do it, so… _why not_? He does it.  
  
He is glad he has brushed up his knowledge of the female anatomy recently, although he’d never admit the time he spent browsing questionable forums and memorizing their _tips and tricks_ , because the following ten minutes or so are some of the best of his life, filling him with a strange sense of pride, as those same two fingers sneak past the final barrier and work their magic on her clitoris.  
  
Deliberately moving down his mouth to pepper with kisses her neck, clavicles and really every inch of her chest which her shirt allowed him to reach, her small, happy sighs and shaky breaths, followed by a final, strangled moan and a sharp tug at his hair as Robin demanded another kiss on her lips, still echo in his mind now that she has released her hold on him, legs resting numbly on the sofa, and his arms are now placed on both sides of her, supporting his weight so that she doesn’t have to, void of the earlier velvet in his hands.  
  
She has her eyes closed as she tries to catch her breath, hair sprawled messily around her red-tinted face.  
  
Just as he suspected, she does look radiant as she comes undone, almost eerie and yet so very real.  
  
Her eyes are molten blue diamonds as she looks up at him. “ _Umh_. Come here”.  
  
She sits up and wraps her arms around him, kissing him in a way that suggests she is far from done with him. Not that Zoro minds it, but all good things must come to an end, unfortunately, and Robin’s telephone rings to life, a familiar head of orange hair popping up on the display as Nami tries to video-call her.

* * *

“Oh. Hey, Zoro… I had the suspect I would find you here with Robin…”, Nami laughs to herself, the camera framing her forehead as she puts her eyeliner on. It took but one look at the display to determine her call didn’t come at the right time, but what’s done is done, so she continues, “I’m sorry to _interrupt_ you, I just wanted to check if you changed your mind and wanted to come with us later”.  
  
“Uh, I… I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve changed my mind…” _What about you, Zoro?_ “No, Zoro says he doesn’t want to go either. Is everything okay?” _Ask her if the others are bailing on her_. “Are the others bailing on you?”  
  
“I heard that… No, it’s not that. Apoo posted about the event earlier and it turns out he’s supposed to play there for a couple of hours tonight. It’s legit to assume his friends will be there to support him…”  
  
Spraying her setting mist, the camera returns to Nami’s face now, while on the other side of the call Zoro has now snatched the phone from Robin and is frowning slightly at the device.  
  
“Is Luffy going to be there? _Ero-cook_?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. Luffy will be there, I think. It’s his father’s friend that’s opening the club, after all… Sanji, too. Actually, you two are the only ones missing of the usual party”.  
  
“It’ll be fine, then. They seem to have calmed down since the beginning of the school year, if you don’t consider the recent tire-thing, but that was Killer alone…”  
  
“I know, _but_ –”  
  
“No buts. Enjoy your night and don’t waste your time worrying about Eustass and the other idiots. They are not worth it. Like I said this morning, ten days before the race I’m trying to focus on my training and getting enough sleep. No drinks for me until Halloween…”  
  
“ _Oh_ , so that’s why there’s sake on the table?”  
  
“Goodnight, Nami”.  
  
Zoro would close the call straight away, but Robin intercepts his hand and manages to wiggle her phone out of it.  
  
She gives her friend a proper goodbye, but, ultimately, she reiterates the sentiment expressed by the swordsman: she’s not going anywhere tonight.  
  
“ _So_ , where were we?”  
  
 _Ding-dong_.  
  
It's another round of disentangling limbs and fixing their hair until they are somewhat presentable, but the interruption is not taken as lightly and humorously by the brunette this time. There’s only a handful of people who have her address and the majority is busy right now.  
  
Since she’s not expecting any visits, the sound of the doorbell puts her instantly on alert.

* * *

“What are you doing here?”  
  
Robin is frozen next to the wooden door, eyes widened as they stare at the unpleasantly familiar scowl on the man’s face. There is no reason for him to show up at her apartment, she’s frankly surprised he knows her address, because she’s definitely not the person who gave it to him, but most of all she feels under attack.  
  
Kuzan exhales, deeply, his breath creating small, white clouds as it clashes with the cold evening air.  
  
“I need to talk to you”.  
  
The expression on his face is as unreadable as usual, but it changes when his eyes land on the green-haired boy who’s sitting on her sofa and pretending to watch the movie which is still playing on the television, from one of mild discomfort to sheer embarrassment mixed with rage, a wicked cocktail that’s actually pretty amusing to watch.  
  
“Privately”, he adds, stiffly.  
  
He’s not in a position where he can question what she does outside of school, Aokiji is just her math professor and he’s the one who made sure of it, but she can tell he’s not too oblivious to the nature of her relationship with Zoro and that he’s somehow bothered by it, although she’s not sure why.  
  
 _He_ decided he didn’t want to be a part of her life, _he_ disappeared as soon as Olvia’s body was under the ground.   
  
The brunette knows her boyfriend is listening and that he’ll probably have some questions, but she doesn’t want nor does she have the energy to deal with the emotional baggage which the sole sight of her _quasi_ -father and former beloved mentor, someone she truly looked up to, dusts off.  
  
“I don’t want to talk to _you_ ”.  
  
“Robin…”  
  
“No”, she raises her voice. “If it’s about the robbery, you should call Saul. If it’s about my grades, you should write him an e-mail and schedule a meeting. If it’s about anything else, I really don’t want to hear it”.  
  
It’s only a brief flash, but she can tell her words are hurting him.  
  
 _Well, he’s just reaping what he sowed_ , she thinks. _As if he can just show up and demand my time and attention… I call bullshit._   
  
Funny how one can go from absolute highs to utter despair, but it’s only a matter of seconds before Zoro is standing next to her, one hand wrapping encouragingly around hers, and it does make her feel better to know that she’s not alone anymore, that her feelings are valued and validated.  
  
“Robbery? What robbery?”, the swordsman asks, “Robin, what happened?”  
  
“That’s none of your concern”, Kuzan retorts, sternly. He seems quite uncomfortable with the idea of having this conversation in front of one of his students, but he somehow manages it. “It is quite late in the evening already, I’d suggest you return to your home, Roronoa”.  
  
Messy hair, wrinkled clothes, the attitude… His eyes narrow at the sake cups sitting on the coffee table.  
  
“I’ll be the judge of that”, the girl rebukes. “Zoro was _invited_ here, after all”.   
  
“Did someone break into your home, Robin? Were you attacked in the streets, or…?”  
  
His voice is filled with concern, his grip on her hand almost painful as it tightens.  
  
“I wasn’t in any danger”, she reassures him. “Some people broke into my old house back in Ohara, took some papers from my mother’s safe and left. The local authorities have opened an investigation, but I doubt they’ll ever catch them”.  
  
“I’m so sorry. _When_? Well, I’m glad it didn’t happen where you currently live”. Zoro ignores the math professor completely, focusing on his girlfriend instead. “Hopefully they’ll manage to get those papers back”.  
  
“Maybe they will”.  
  
 _Cough-cough_.  
  
Kuzan doesn’t budge from his position, although the house is getting quite cold because of the open door. With a sigh, she gestures for the man to enter, then jostles her hand away from Zoro’s hold.  
  
As it’s pretty clear Aokiji won’t leave until he has said his piece, Robin can only hope it won’t take too long.  
  
She invites him to sit at the dining table, dragging her boyfriend to another room before showing an apologetic smile. “I… I think you should go now. He won’t leave until I agree to talk to him, and I’d rather be done with it as soon as possible. I… I’m sorry... That’s not how I wanted to spend the rest of the evening”.  
  
Zoro turns out to be very understanding, which makes letting him go even harder. Every single time she thinks she has him all figured out, he ought to go out of his way to exceed her expectations.  
  
“Call me if you need anything”, the swordsman kisses her on the forehead, lightly.  
  
He doesn’t seem too happy about leaving when she’s so obviously in distress.  
  
From what little she has shared, she would have to be made of steel not to feel betrayed and hurt by someone who turned their back on her when she was at her lowest, but, ultimately, Kuzan Aokiji is not a threat and he respects her request.  
  
“I can come back if you need me to”.  
  
It's with a tearful kiss that she bids him goodbye before escorting him back to the living room, where he gathers his belongings quickly and awkwardly nods his head at the professor on his way out.  
  
Robin feels there’s considerably less oxygen in the room now that he is gone.  
  
“What do you want, Kuzan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my dears! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. (:
> 
> Truthfully, this chapter only serves as the context for the tiny bit of smut I one day felt like writing ( _actual_ smut coming sooner than you think) and it helps us transitioning to the next four chapters, which cover Halloween and the first round of the school's tournament, so yeah, stay tuned for that, there's a little something for every main ship of this story. 
> 
> As usual, a giant thanks from the bottom of my heart to anyone who read, left kudos or dedicated some of their time to write a comment. You guys are special and your support means the world to me! 🥰💖


	21. Iron Rooster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the first round of the school's tournament takes place, and different kinds of tension ensue as New Marineford's pupils and their families celebrate their victories and drink away their losses.

**ON HALLOWEEN**.

When October 31st finally rolls up, and classes are canceled for the entire day, the first round of the tournament is finally disputed between the students, and it is, so far, producing interesting results.  
  
Ten different disciplines are randomly drawn by the jury. The first team who scores more than five points wins, each student can compete no more than two times, hence the rule stating that every crew must have at least ten members, and everyone is determined to do their best today.  
  
It’s about their pride… _and_ their college applications.  
  
Apart from the cash-prize, students who win the final match are personally written a recommendation letter by principal Sengoku, who has many friends and supporters in all the places that matter. Needless to say, tension can be cut with a knife between members of different crews during the day.  
  
The first match disputed is the one between CP9 and Punk Hazard, lead respectively by Rob Lucci and Jewerly Bonney. The latter, especially their captain, puts on a good fight, scoring four points before their opponents can get their sixth, but eventually the defending champions adapt better to the challenges, fielding the right players for each one.  
  
CP9 is forced to go through all ten of the tasks to keep their spot in the competition and proceed to the second round, with Penguin almost losing to his classmate Bellamy in the Greco-Roman wrestling match. The former outmatches the latter by a hair, goaded even by his friends from a rival team, namely Bepo and Shachi, but even Trafalgar Law, who’s co-captain of the RA, claps his hands and congratulates him when Sengoku, presiding the jury, declares him the winner.  
  
There’s a fifteen minutes break before the Revolutionary Army and Galley-La Company are called on stage, where a giant screen gives the audience a real time report of the happenings on the athletic field. Apoo is already warming up for the running competition and his rival, Gin, seems confident in his possibilities, but the aspiring DJ is one of the best runners in the school, so no one is really surprised when he crosses the finish line much sooner than the other.  
  
The team Law and Eustass co-captain has quite the easy victory against the poorly assembled contingent playing against them: it’s not that Galley-La is not good, per se, they are just not good _enough_ when compared to their opponents.  
  
The RA is as old as New Marineford, since the very beginning a house for everyone with a rejection for authority and the need to cause some trouble, it naturally attracts talented players who are willing to do everything to win. The fact it’s sponsored by Bartholomew Kuma, the algid, unreadable history professor, who was a champion in his own right when he attended the school and scored the Army many brilliant victories, only makes it even more difficult to beat.  
  
It doesn’t help that Galley-La has last year seen all of his members graduate except from the current captain, Paulie, a tall guy from 4thA who, despite his best efforts, hasn’t been able to put together a team strong enough to compete with them.  
  
Sure, Stussy destroyed them in the fourth task, retarding the RA’s victory for two more rounds, but no one really expected Shachi to accomplish a lot in _artistic gymnastics_ , he is just the more flexible one of the bunch, and the only one willing to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school, but in the end the fate of this match was decided from the very beginning.  
  
What little good athletes Galley-La has managed to gather this year, they aren’t very invested in the competition, they lack the spirit of sacrifice and the teamwork Kuma has drilled into the thick skulls of his pupils, they play for themselves and, besides from Paulie, they don’t even seem too bothered as Sengoku’s gavel officially kicks them out of the competition.  
  
Well, Don Krieg shouts some curses at his adversaries, not realizing that none of his teammates are willing to back him up if he decides to start up a fight with Kid and his crew, as it seems very likely from the way the red-haired co-captain and his right-hand-man are glaring at him.  
  
Trafalgar Law just ignores him altogether, smug about passing the first round without doing as much as lifting a finger. Thankfully, Bepo took his place in the third task, judo, because while Absalom wasn’t much of a challenge, his body is still recovering from the severe beating it received two weeks ago. Just the smallest hit on his right side would make him see the stars and probably fall limply to the ground, succumbing to the blow.  
  
He's lucky the RA needs him for the more intellectual tasks of the second installment of the tournament, where he has scored more points than anybody else for the past four years, otherwise there’s no doubt his days as co-captain would be over.  
  
He could feel Eustass’ eyes on him as their team went through seven of the ten potential match-ups of today, chastising him for not contributing to the victory, but only an absolute _moron_ wouldn’t have noticed that’s he’s drastically out of shape, bruised and battered beyond repair.  
  
Doflamingo may have done an excellent job in not leaving any bruises on his body, using the sack of potatoes to deliver most of the pain, but there’s still a cut on his face and another on his arm, where a white, irregular scar glimmers under the light every time he wears short sleeves.  
  
Kid and the others didn’t question him about it, but he noticed Basil’s eyes often searching for it, he knows it’s only a matter of time before someone finally gathers up the courage to ask what happened to him.  
  
Even Bepo, who believes in him with all of his golden, giant heart, is not buying the pathetic excuse he has tried to sell him about some thug stabbing him in the metro as he stepped up to help a poor woman who was being robbed. Not that Law wouldn’t really intervene when presented with such a sight, he is cold but not heartless… it’s just that he doesn’t use public transport, never did, and his best friend knows it.  
  
His eyes dart to the other side of the auditorium as the Revolutionary Army climbs down the stage and takes it rightful place next to CP9. The Straw-Hats are ready to take their place after another short break, lined up in single file, with their captain taking the lead.   
  
Law looks away before his eyes can meet Luffy’s, deeply ashamed. He’d lie if he said he hasn’t been thinking about their kiss, but as much as the memory kept him company and almost, almost brought a smile to his lips through the past two weeks, he has been avoiding him since then.  
  
First and foremost, they compete against one another in the tournament. It’s a well-known fact that things can turn pretty ugly between members of opposite factions.  
  
Just look at Luffy’s friend and Eustass, whose break-up almost costed both their teams qualification for the final round two years ago.  
  
Then there’s the matter he doesn’t even know why he kissed him.  
  
Sure, Straw-Hat is very handsome, but he doesn’t fall under Law’s usual spectrum of choice.  
  
He is too kind, too innocent, Law avoids dating people like him because he knows he would ruin them beyond repair.  
  
Besides, dating? That’s not really something he does. He finds someone who tickles his carnal instincts and that’s all that he has to offer to a potential partner, no pillow talks and displays of affection, because frankly he is not quite sure he is capable of that, not romantically.  
  
Sure, he absolutely adores his father and would probably lose an eye (or two) for Bepo and the others (mostly Bepo), but that’s all that there is space for within his frozen heart.  
  
Most of it he left in Flevance, it burned to ashes with Lami when the government officials decided to set the whole city on fire to cover up for their horrible exploitation of the locals and the disease their greed had contributed to spread.  
  
Whatever Cora-san managed to pick up from the ground and returned to him, he guards it zealously. It’s for himself and himself only to keep and protect.  
  
It scares him how easily Monkey D. Luffy seems able to reach out and touch it.  
  
“Welcome back to the one-hundred twenty-second edition of New Marineford’s yearly race…”, Principal Sengoku settles back in his chair at the middle of the jury’s table, inviting the public to sit down once more and the final two teams to get ready to compete. “Last but not least, we have the Straw-Hats, sponsored by Brook, our estimated music professor, and lead by Monkey D. Luffy, against a new-entry, God’s Army, who enrolled without a sponsor and captained by Enel…”  
  
The old man seems quite baffled by the last piece of information, unimpressed by the arrogance of the boy with platinum blond hair who, unfortunately, has been to his office and gave him a headache more times than New Marineford pays him to endure.  
  
Law winces as he sits down on the bench, ignoring Bepo’s questioning glance and focusing entirely on what’s about to transpire on the stage.

* * *

_God’s Army_ is a bold statement for someone who is all bark and no bite.  
  
The team captained by Enel goes down without scoring a single point, although the match is still very entertaining for the both the public and the competitors.  
  
Sanji simply wipes the floor with Wyper, the two projected on the wall-sized screen as they run at their maximum speed across the athletics track outside; the resident swordsman takes cares of the weight-lifting portion and leaves the fencing to Cavendish, who easily beats Braham.  
  
Luffy crushes Enel’s ego once and for all as they fight in their white ensembles and black belts, whilst Vivi confidently stands up against Conis, who is good with the ribbons, but not as good as the princess, who has trained in the discipline ever since she was a little child and mastered it.  
  
With only one point left to score, the Straw-Hats discuss who should take charge of the swimming. It was decided Luffy would take care of it, as he can be pretty fast, but the opposing team is faster and lines up Raki, who’s a member of the school’s swimming team.  
  
That leaves Vivi, Nami and Kaya to choose from, as in official competitions men and women don’t compete against each other and the Straw-Hats take for granted, as they are now all aware of Robin’s trouble with pools and the like, that the raven-haired girl doesn’t consider herself an option.  
  
Her blue eyes dart to the tall, slender schoolmate who is removing her tracksuit and carefully putting on her bathing cap and goggles. She stretches her limbs expertly, almost like a cat that’s waking up from an afternoon nap.  
  
Both teams and the jury have now moved to the pool in another building, along with the cameras, but the rest of the school has remained in the auditorium, as to not lose too much time.   
  
CP9 vs Punk Hazard took up most of the morning, forcing them to push lunchtime back of several hours, so it’s already six in the afternoon when Raki prepares to try and overturn the fate of the competition. If she wins now and then God’s Army somehow scores another four points, then they would have to play it off in a final challenge that would be randomly drawn.  
  
From a logical point of view, they should do their best to take it home now and advance directly to the second round of the race, the trivia.  
  
Nami offers to step up and starts to unzip her hoodie, as they all wear swimsuits underneath their clothes, but Robin puts a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. In her other hand is her telephone, on which she’s checking Raki’s statistics on the school’s website.  
  
For someone so young, she appears very talented. Robin may have stopped swimming ever since the accident who took Olvia away, but it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t follow the discipline or can’t recognize a threat as it slaps her so strongly in the face.   
  
“Wait, Nami…”, she pauses, showing her the data on her screen. “She’s not overwhelming, but she’s good. I’m not sure…”  
  
She doesn’t need to finish the sentence for the other to understand what she means.  
  
“I’m faster than Kaya and Vivi, so unless Sanji puts on a wig and a pair of fake breasts, I don’t think we really have another option…”  
  
It's a split second decision, an unconscious whim, the ghost of her last conversation with Kuzan looming over her and guilt-tripping her without mercy. She was ten times crueler to him, which helped, somehow, because she finally took out of her chest all the feelings she has kept bottled up for two years, but his words hurt. Because they are right.  
  
Is he an utter bastard for implying her mother wouldn’t be proud of what she has done with her life over the past two years, of the way she is letting fear holding her back? Absolutely yes.  
  
Isn’t he correct, though?  
  
Nico Olvia always placed such high expectations on her only daughter and the brilliant future she saw ahead of her. Her fiancée, too, when he still cared about her.  
  
She’s not sure what prompted him to show up at her apartment ten days ago, but she has replayed their exchange in her head over and over again since then, interiorizing the implicit warning a little bit more as each painful sentence was dissected deeper and deeper.  
  
There’s no circling around it. This, intended as this new beginning in New Marineford – this is her last chance. She needs to decide whether she’ll let her past determine her future.  
  
She knows what Olvia would want her to do. She just hopes she’s strong enough to succeed, but Robin feels she owes it to the Straw-Hats to try her very hardest.  
  
There’s no expressing how grateful she is towards this colorful carousel of selfless, amazing people who took her in and didn’t question their decision once.  
  
“ _I’ll do it_ ”.  
  
She looks up at Kuzan after she removes her tracksuit, fidgeting with the goggles’ elastic so that they’ll fit her head properly. It’s been a long time since she has performed this particular gesture, but her muscle memory is surprising. In one, swift gesture, the goggles sit comfortably on her neck.  
  
The math professor, sitting with the rest of the jury, discreetly nods his head in acknowledgement with a small smile. Robin doesn’t return it, but she’d lie if she said it doesn’t feel at least at little bit encouraging. He was the one who used to chaperone her for her swimming competitions, after all.  
  
Olvia was never big on sports.

* * *

“Are you sure about this?”  
  
Luffy is the first to speak as he, Nami and Zoro accompany her to the starting platform.  
  
The captain seems thoughtful, scrutinizing her with big, inquisitive eyes. On her other side her boyfriend is subtly squeezing her wrist as they walk with a lopsided smile; out of the three, he seems the most supportive of the decision she just took.  
  
Nami and Luffy, of course, appreciate her devotion to the cause, but they don’t see why she’d make such a traumatic experiment so suddenly.  
  
It doesn’t matter if Nami or another of the girls loses to Kari, they’ll just make sure they destroy God’s Army once and for all in the beach volleyball match that would come if they don’t score with the swimming performance, but Zoro, to whom she has talked more at length about her previous love for the discipline and the fact she’s not sure she’ll ever overcome her fears if she doesn’t start pushing back _now_ , is sure she can do this.  
  
He has looked up her old stats from Ohara when the topic was brought up the day he noticed the medals she keeps in her living room, so if her mind really is up for it, the swordsman has no doubt she’ll come out of the experience as the winner.  
  
Even if that doesn’t happen, he knows she would have still done her best, took an enormous step towards her emotional healing, so it’s a win-win situation in his modest opinion.  
  
“Yes, I… I think I can”.  
  
Zoro grows a little more wary as she almost trips on the first step, but the girl takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment, her expression unreadable when they shoot open once more.  
  
There’s something fierce written all over her face, as she seizes her rival up her down before casting her blue orbs down, on the water whose color is so similar and yet so trite in comparison.   
  
Then a whistle is blown, loudly, and both Robin and Kari disappear from the sight, swallowed whole by the aquatic mirror. The Straw-Hats are quite taken aback by the speed with which she glides beneath the water’s rippled surface, putting a good nine seconds between herself and her rival, but joyous nonetheless as she cuts the finish line and instantly runs out of the pool.  
  
Their friend is shaking and she looks positively exhausted, but there’s no mistaking the smile that’s sitting on her lips, that gentle, upward curve suggesting she is, and rightfully so, proud of herself.  
  
“Wooooah! You did so great, Robin!”  
  
“Yes, Robin, that was awesome”, Nami grins at her, handing her the big, white towel she has been keeping ready for her friend.  
  
As the soft fabric wraps around her shoulders, the orange-haired girl hugs her as tightly as she can. She eyes Raki as she comes out of the pool, shuddering at the thought of competing against her as she originally intended to.  
  
“You were right. None of us stood a chance against her”.  
  
“Guys, we passed!”, continues Luffy, joining them in the hug.  
  
It’s not long before Vivi and Kaya do the same, followed by an overly excited Chopper, and soon enough all members of the crew are dragged inside of it. Zoro takes advantage of the opportunity to squeeze Robin’s cold hand and whisper his congratulations in her ear.  
  
Sengoku formalizes the Straw-Hats’ victory with a final stomp of his gavel, inviting the participants to recover from their exertion and join the rest of the school and spectators in the ballroom when they’re ready, so that the small party that usually closes every installment of the race can finally take place. It’s nothing too big and very formal, but for most people it’s a great opportunity for networking.   
  
“The first round of drinks in on me tonight!”, Usopp is declaring, pumping a fist into the air – it’s the least he can do since they passed the turn before his sniping skills could be put to good use.  
  
X Drake takes it as his opportunity to chime in.  
  
“Congratulations, Straw-Hats”, he says in a low drawl, green eyes narrowing with interest at the girl still dripping with water and shivering from the cold. “I knew you would make it at least to the second round”.  
  
“What do you want, Drake?”  
  
Nami’s voice isn’t downright hostile, but it doesn’t sound friendly either. He doesn’t usually address the crew directly, not as much as he did when they were younger and almost friends and he didn’t sit so high on the social pyramid, albeit at the price of selling his soul to Eustass Kid’s madness.   
  
Drake raises his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. The RA has started drinking as soon as their match was over from a small flask Killer has managed to smuggle into his training bag, so the captain of the soccer team is a lot more laid-back than he usually is, but also clumsier.   
  
He has a bit of a reputation around New Marineford for being a womanizer, although, despite his good looks, the girls he asks out are a far greater number than those who _actually_ agree. Utterly uncapable of commitment, most of the female population of the school has soon started to avoid him once it became clear that he cannot, not to save his life, avoid cheating on whomever he’s dating.  
  
From the way he has been staring at her recently, he seems to think he has shot with the newest addition to their class, but Nami won’t let him overstep his boundaries and cause a scene. Zoro may be distracted, but he’s not stupid. While she can’t still quite understand why he doesn’t just go public about his relationship with Robin, so that pathetic simps like Drake will be deterred, she knows it’s only a matter of time before the swordsman catches up and blows up in his face.  
  
Now that Eustass and the others have seemingly let go of their grudge, keeping to themselves and avoiding interacting with the Straw-Hats as much as possible, besides from Killer randomly going after Sanji’s car, although they are trying not to think about that too much, she doesn’t want another feud to blossom, especially not with someone they then have to share a classroom with almost every day.  
  
“I just wanted to invite y’all to my party… Winners, losers, my house is open to everybody”, he explains, flicking back the medium length strands of crimson red hair which are sitting on top of his head. “ _Ah_ , Robin! Great job against that younger chick…”  
  
X Drake adds a wink in the end, but he only receives a blank stare in return, as Robin, who is hastily putting her tracksuit back on, seems very unimpressed by his attempt to compliment her.  
  
A blush spreads on his cheeks, so he awkwardly coughs in his hand before focusing his attention on the rest of the group, eyes searching for Luffy. He quickly gives them the details they need, then dips his head in greeting, “I expect to see you there, Straw-Hat”.  
  
“We’ll be there, Drake”, their captain assures him. Then, as their classmate takes his leave, he turns back to the crew with a huge grin, “I knew we could do this, guys. Now, let’s go celebrate!”  
  
“Uh, Luffy?”, Nami interjects. “You can do as you please, but I’d rather shower and change my clothes before I show up in the auditorium”.  
  
“But I want to say Hi to my brothers!”  
  
“You should hurry up, then”, pacifies Vivi, who’d rather not see them instead. Well, she has nothing against Sabo, she is just not sure she is ready to face Ace yet. Or _ever_. “We’ll meet you all there”.  
  
Girls and boys take different routes as from the pool they head to different changing rooms. There’s a bit of a frozen atmosphere in the female locker room as they stumble into Jewelry Bonney.  
  
“Hi, Bonney”, Nami tries, softly. She wouldn’t call the two of them friends, but there’s mutual respect. “I’m sorry about you guys. CP9 is the _fucking_ worse”.  
  
Before Jewerly can rejoice in the unexpected sympathy, Kalifa steps into the changing room as well, followed by her friends, an arrogant smirk on her lips.  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t call ourselves that. We won last year and we prevailed today, too. If anything, we are the best this school has to offer”.  
  
Tashigi doesn’t seem pleased with the blonde’s taunt, she’s not a sore _winner_ , and Shirahoshi, bless her heart, his downright horrified by how rude she is being with her classmate.  
  
“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that, Kalifa”, Nami fires back, with a fake, honeyed voice. “Rumor has it you’re not doing too well since Jabra and Blueno graduated last year”.  
  
“Listen, you _little_ …”  
  
“What, _mh_?”, she presses. “You should hurry back outside, Lucci is probably wondering whether his _pet_ got lost again”.  
  
The room freezes after that, as the two former friends stare coldly at each other. The orange-haired girl knows she has dealt a low blow, and with so many witnesses at that, but she feels better after doing so, finally releasing the animosity she has bottled up for three years.  
  
The two of them used to be joined at the hip before Rob Lucci entered the picture, or better, when he and Kalifa officially became an item. She didn’t say a word when the blonde started hanging out with her less and less frequently, Nami really did her best to be a supportive friend, understood that it was only normal that she spent a lot of time with her boyfriend.  
  
Things went downhill when she started noticing the subtle red flags Lucci dropped whenever he opened his mouth and the microaggressions she subjected her to on a daily basis, only when she confronted her friend, and she took his side, Nami refused to watch her treat herself like that, cutting all lines of communication.  
  
Her present self feels somewhat guilty about it, now that she’s older and wiser and realizes just how manipulative the boy really is, having had her fair share with Eustass, but there’s no point trying to patch up that bridge now. Kalifa has made it perfectly clear that she hates her.  
  
She can only hope she someday leaves that asshole behind her, possibly before his controlling tendencies and easy anger escalate and injure her permanently.  
  
“Rich of you, Nami”, the blonde sneers. “You lost all your credibility when you got back together with Kid… Wait, what was it?”, she pauses, waiting for an answer to come from an imaginary audience. “The fourth or the fifth time?”  
  
Nami rolls her eyes. _Wow, so original_.  
  
“Whatever. I really have better ways to spend my time than to share the same air as you”.

* * *

It doesn’t take long for the Straw-Hat girls to come out of the showers, but when they do Kalifa and her teammates have been replaced by Viola and Monet, who are trying her best to console their fallen captain.  
  
They shush away quickly, however, when Nami returns to the lockers and starts fidgeting with her bag, looking for her dress, shoes and make-up bag.  
  
“I am happy for us”, Nami exhales, placing herself in front of one of the mirrors.  
  
Kaya mimics her gestures, but she can’t stop herself from asking, “What was that about, Nami?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Don’t play dumb, dear”, Vivi chimes in, holding up an accusatory finger. Neither she nor the blonde ever even remotely liked Kalifa, but it’s been quite a while since the two girls had a confrontation, and never before was Nami so mean in addressing who was once her best friend.  
  
Robin hasn’t said anything about it, but the others can tell she feels very uncomfortable with the whole thing, not to mention confused.  
  
“You’ve been on edge lately”, the Alabastan princess points out. “Spill the damn tea”.  
  
“Ugh, I don’t know”, Nami mutters, lamely. She still hasn’t given an answer to Sanji, it’s been over three weeks and she still hasn’t come up with a solution to her dilemma. “I guess I just needed to get it off my chest at some point…”  
  
She’s careful when her friends don’t press her on the matter, but equally as aware of Robin’s pretty blue eyes staring questioningly at her.  
  
Ever since their heart-to-heart discussion the night she slept at her house, she always feels uneasy in the brunette’s presence, as if the fact someone else knows about it is making the clock tick faster. Whilst she doesn’t regret opening up to her, she made treasure of her words and used them to guide herself over the past ten days, she still doesn’t like the constant reminder.  
  
But she misses spending time with Sanji without the weird halo of awkwardness that characterizes all their interactions since they came back from their trip to Mystoria.  
  
He said he loved her and she still doesn’t know if it’s okay to tell him that she loves him back.  
  
“I think we should hurry up”, it’s all that Robin says, slipping into the dress she has picked for the small party the school is holding for today’s occasion. It’s a blueberry, satiny thing she bought online last week, paired with simple, sensible white heels. “Didn’t Luffy wanted us all to put on a costume before we go out tonight?”  
  
As Nami puts on her red asymmetrical dress, tying her hair up in a delicate bun sitting on the nape of her neck, Kaya is braiding Vivi’s long hair at incredible speed.  
  
“Have you guys seen Rebecca?”  
  
“I think she left with Viola and Bonney”, Nami frowns, “I’m sure she’ll be easy to find once we get to the party. There’s only a certain number of people who have pink hair in this school”.  
  
It's fifteen (truthfully, twenty) minutes before the four of them finally exit the locker room, the pool area now almost completely rid of people as the guys responsible to tape the competition silently put away their equipment, another ten before they finally step inside their ballroom.  
  
Lined up at the entrance, all pretty and dolled up for the formal reception, it doesn’t take long for several people all across the ballroom to spot them, some hypnotized by the sight and others mildly annoyed. Part of the latter category is surely Kalifa, who stands dutifully next to her beau as he ignores her to talk to everyone else, thus further proving Nami’s earlier point.  
  
The orange-haired girl isn’t looking for anyone in particular as she scans the room with her eyes. Unsurprisingly, Nojiko didn’t make it back in time, so there’s no family waiting impatiently to congratulate her.  
  
She looks past Zoro, who’s standing next to his sister, whilst somewhere near the buffet she is pretty sure it’s Luffy and his brothers who are emptying the trays of food at an unbelievable pace.  
  
In the further east corner, Sanji talks with a beautiful pink-haired who’s most definitely not a student of this school. Her face from a distance looks vaguely familiar, but _who is she_?

* * *

“Do I need to worry? I wasn’t expecting to see you here…”, Sanji pauses, taking in the sight before him, “… _Reiju_ ”.  
  
Without second thought, he hugs his older sister, but doubt is still digging in the back of his mind, because there’s only a handful of reasons the Vinsmoke princess would show up at his school in Grand Line City of all places, completely unannounced, and every single one of them is _bad_.  
  
“Ah, I missed you, Sanji-kun”, Reiju chuckles, it’s a musical sound that reminds him of the late queen’s laugh. “As suspicious as always, I see”.  
  
“Seriously, though, what are you doing here? How did you even know about all of this?”  
  
He gestures for the ballroom, where people are starting to dance to the tune of Brook’s violin, then to the designer, hand-tailored dress she’s wearing.  
  
The woman, on her part, looks disapprovingly at his tuxedo. It doesn’t look of poor facture, per se, but it doesn’t seem suited for someone of his lineage either.  
  
“ _My_ , dad should really send you more money”, she grimaces, “To answer your question, different matters bring me to Grand Line City, but I remembered there was something related to Halloween that was special about your school, so I looked it up online, bought a ticket on their website and thought I’d be here to congratulate you in case you won”.  
  
Sanji is flabbergasted. It’s too much information to process all at once.  
  
He knows for a fact that he never talked about the tournament with his relatives, not even Reiju, knowing it would just provide another easy excuse for his brothers and father to poke fun at him, so it's very upsetting to find out his sister knew all along.  
  
She seems to sense his discomfort, because she adds, smiling softly, “You think I wouldn’t do some research about the school my little brother goes to? I even watched the videos online… I, for one, am very proud of you”.  
  
Sanji doesn’t have time to give her a heartfelt reply, surprised by her words, because a hand swiftly wraps around his arm, a familiar scent of tangerines hitting his nostrils as Nami grins up at him.  
  
Upon closer inspection, the pink-haired girl is easily given away by her curly eyebrows. Vinsmoke Reiju looks even more beautiful in person than she does in the papers.  
  
She remembers Sanji mentioning her a couple of times as the only member of his family he has a relationship with, his only shoulder to cry on when he was younger, so whilst Nami is still diffident – she still lets Judge and her other siblings treat him like _scum_ , after all, which she cannot tolerate – as she finally meets one of the Vinsmokes, she is glad it’s Reiju who showed up this evening.

“I was looking for you, Sanji-kun”, showing a colder smile to the pinkette, as if to warn her that she will _scratch_ and she will _bite_ if she somehow upsets the blond, Nami waits patiently for the boy to introduce them to each other.  
  
“Nami-swan, this is my sister, Reiju”. The latter seems horrified by the fact he’s being so informal, looking downright horrified when her hand touches a commoner’s, but she pushes through all of it gracefully, for the sake of her little brother, and that alone brings her up several notches in Nami’s eyes. “Reiju, this is my best friend…”  
  
“Nami”, she finishes for him. “She is Nami, right?”  
  
The princess looks at her as if they have known each other intimately for years, to the point she wonders just what kind of stories Sanji shares with her the few times he goes to Germa.  
  
“You are correct”, the blond sighs, cheeks ablaze. Reiju is perhaps the only person who knows just how deeply he’s in love with the orange-haired girl. He always did his best to conceal it, least Niji, Ichiji, or worse, Yonji, got to her same conclusion, he never told her explicitly, but, somehow, she knows. “Reiju, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Nami”.  
  
The pink-haired woman smirks. In her ears, her name sounds something along the lines of, _this is the person my brother is going to marry, someday_.  
  
Well, King Judge seems to disagree, but Reiju has plans; they only need to be set into motion, although she still wishes the whole situation will be avoided altogether.  
  
“The pleasure is mine”, the princess forces out, quite not familiar with the idea of being so informal with a stranger. “From what I’ve heard you take good care of my otouto”.  
  
Nami is softened by her words. As much as she can question her actions, she can’t bring herself to question her love for Sanji. “I’d say it’s quite the opposite”, she retorts, “It’s Sanji who takes excellent care not only of myself, but the rest of the crew as well”.  
  
The blond prince can’t believe his ears. It’s like they’re both doing their best to embarrass him, although their goal is only to praise him in front of the other, as they think he is not being valued enough by the counterpart.  
  
All of this, of course, Sanji doesn’t know, so he’s quite surprised by the way they are behaving.  
  
“Maybe we should move to the buffet?”  
  
Reiju glares at him as if he has just set her precious collection of monarch butterflies on fire.  
  
“ _As if_ I would eat from a public plate”, she sneers, “I’ll just be on my way, dear. I have a business meeting downtown scheduled for dinner, but I’ll make sure to call you so we can meet up before I leave”.  
  
Her smile falters a little when she mentions her previous engagement, but she recovers quickly, her calculated mask slipping easily back into place.  
  
“Sanji-kun, I really do hope you have an amazing night. Ms. Nami, I’m glad we have finally met. Look after my little brother for me, will you?”  
  
Reiju pecks both of her brother’s cheeks before she and her expensive dress leave the room. If she wasn’t so put off by her identity, it’s likely Nami would be a huge fan.  
  
“Well, that was something…”, she points out, vaguely. “Why didn’t you tell us she was coming? I’m sure the others would have loved to meet her as well”.  
  
“She never told me, Nami-swan”, he retorts. “I was just as surprised as you were. I just hope the rest of the family remained in Germa…”  
  
“I don’t look forward to meeting them”.  
  
“If it’s up to me, you never will”.  
  
An awkward silence falls between the two, but it’s soon erased by Vivi, who approaches the pair with a big smile. For obvious reasons her father couldn’t show up, although he has followed the competition and already called to congratulate her, so her idea is to gather up those members of the crew that, like her, are kind of left to themselves today and wait out the end of the reception together.  
  
“Hey, guys”, she greets them. “I was looking for you. Have you seen Robin?”

* * *

The brunette stands close to the table on top of which the flutes of champagne are sitting.  
  
She wasn’t expecting Saul to free his schedule just to come to this small stupid event, but he did, and it makes her feel beyond grateful. Robin might play it down most of the time, pretend she’s not affected by the lack of a constant source of warmth, affection and reassurance, but the truth is very far from that: she’d lie if she said she didn’t feel anxious at the idea of coming to this kind of party without some sort of parental figure by her side.  
  
The tendency is clear.  
  
Students whose parents are born and raised in the New World tend to be present, dressed to the nineties and ready to mingle with the rest of the upper class, whilst those whose relatives reside elsewhere, no matter their wealth and status, are less frequently chaperoned.  
  
She’s so grateful to Saul, as a matter of fact, that she doesn’t mind smiling and making polite conversation with strangers, she knows that as a private attorney most of his ability to get new clients is through opportunities like this one.  
  
However, she draws the line at Kuzan advancing in their direction, dipping under her tutor’s arm and blending into the crowd before either man can utter a single word.  
  
Childish? _Perhaps_.  
  
Necessary? _Just as much_.  
  
She has been through enough already, she has dealt with enough past trauma for a single day.  
  
It’s the improvised escape that lands her next to the table housing the champagne, eyeing the liquid with a certain thirst. With a sigh, she turns her eyes elsewhere, knowing that she’ll probably have more than she should later at Drake’s party and that it’s really not the case to get _shit_ -faced in front of so many adults, many of whom are also her professors.  
  
Robin is startled by a familiar chuckle.  
  
“Are you hiding from someone?”  
  
Zoro doesn’t share her history of piss poor decisions and drunken mistakes, so he helps himself to one of the glasses, sipping eagerly from it. He keeps one eye on her and another on the rest of the ballroom, where only people above forty years of age are taking advantage of the dancefloor.  
  
Just as expected.  
  
“Maybe”, she concedes. “Are you?”  
  
“Yes. My sister”, the swordsman rolls his eyes. “Dad couldn’t make it, so she had to come here in his place. If I knew she was going to complain so much, I would have told her not to bother”.  
  
“Oh, well. This thing can’t be too long, right?”  
  
“Mh”. Zoro smirks. “Some people stay very late, but we usually wrap things up pretty soon on Halloween”, he explains. “ _Founder’s Day_ , on the other hand? _That_ can turn into a real problem”.  
  
“I’ll make sure I rent a grandfather of some sort by then”, she laughs, “I wouldn’t want to deprive people of the pleasure of pretending they like me”.  
  
Robin wiggles her eyebrows, suggestively, in the direction of Kalifa, not far from there, who usually doesn’t even talk to Monet but today is acting as if they are the biggest of friends.  
  
If one can find it in themselves to be cynical, which is Zoro’s specialty, it’s not hard to put two and two together: the latter’s mother is a famous designer and Kalifa doesn’t exactly keep her goal of becoming a model secret.  
  
“I wouldn’t expect any better”, he exhales, half-heartedly.  
  
From what little he knows of his blonde classmate he doesn’t have a very good opinion of her.   
  
“She and Nami got into a bit of a fight earlier”, she supplies, eyes still locked on the scene. “Some words were thrown around. It was very awkward to watch without the necessary context”.  
  
Begrudgingly, he complies. His girlfriend knows he doesn’t like gossip, but neither does she, which is probably the reason she is asking him and why he can’t deny her request.  
  
If she goes to another source there’s no avoiding a lengthy description of things that happened whilst she still lived in Ohara, which she’d rather not have to sit through.  
  
There’s no one better than the green-haired swordsman to get a short, simple account of the issue.  
  
He doesn’t like to circle around words, Zoro goes straight to the point. It’s one of her favorite things about him. After a lifetime spent trying to decipher people’s behavior, the fact he doesn’t talk much but always makes sure his actions match what comes out of his mouth it’s quite reassuring.  
  
“When we started high school Luffy and I were Nami’s only close friends. It took a while before she eventually warmed up to Vivi and Kaya, but she and Kalifa became friends on the very first day…”  
  
“Excuse me”, she gasps, “They were… Friends?”  
  
“Hard to believe, _uh_?”  
  
“I’m sorry, go on”.  
  
“Anyways, let’s just say they were best friends for the good part of two years, until Kalifa started going out with her current boyfriend”, he resumes, “From there on, all I know is that Lucci entered the picture and suddenly those two became sworn enemies… Nami doesn’t really like to talk about it”.  
  
“I’m sure she has her good reasons”, Robin nods. “Thank you for enlightening me, Zoro”.  
  
“Anytime”.  
  
“ _Here you are, you dork_!”  
  
“And here’s my lovely sister…”, the swordsman turns around, pointing a finger at the young woman who’s storming in his direction.  
  
She’s wearing a long, black dress, high heels that stomp loudly on the marble floor in her haste. Her anger seems to quiet down when her eyes set on the raven-haired beauty standing next to her brother.   
  
“Robin, you’ve already met Perona”.  
  
“ _Ah_ , yes, Robin!”, the pinkette squeaks in delight. “I remember you! How are you?”  
  
Her brother gets immediately suspicious, because it’s not quite like her to be so nice and pleasant with a near stranger. Sure, only an idiot wouldn’t have realized she belongs to his close circle, but it’s not like Perona usually goes out of her way to be kind to his friends.  
  
If anything, it’s quite the opposite. More than once has Usopp complained about her tendency to poke fun at the shape of his nose, whilst Sanji has been insulted in every way imaginable, although he doesn’t really hold the second instance against her.  
  
The pervert cook should have known better than try to hit on a lesbian.   
  
“My brother doesn’t seem keen on spending some time with my old friends, so I’m afraid I’ll have to put up with his peers, instead”, Perona scoffs, “Lucky for me, it’s you I bump into first. We didn’t have time to chat last time, but I couldn’t help but notice that your name was quite… _Unfamiliar_ ”.  
  
Precisely.  
  
Zoro groans inwardly. It’s starting to sound like an interrogatory and there’s nothing he can do to stop it, as Robin smiles sweetly at the pink-haired woman.  
  
“That’s because I’ve moved to Grand Line City only this last summer. It was a big change from my previous location, but I’m loving it here so far”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , I am sure you do”.  
  
The glance she throws at the two teenagers is very suggestive. Fortunately, it lasts but a second.  
  
Soon she spots another familiar face in the crowd, waving her arms wildly in greeting, until her brother, exasperated, gestures for her to join her friend.  
  
“I’ll be fine, Perona. Just go have fun”.  
  
“Take care of him, Robin!”, she shouts over her shoulder, black gown retreating in a twirl of black, carefully hand-sewn lace.  
  
Zoro’s apology for her quirkiness is already on the tip of his tongue when she turns back to him, showing him a beautiful, thought-abolishing smile. “Honestly, I love her style”.  
  
It’s surprising, but it makes sense. Her taste is peculiar, her sense of humor very dark; there was no doubt those two would get along spectacularly if given the opportunity.  
  
He can just imagine his gloomy, horror-movie enthusiast sister inviting his girlfriend over for a marathon of the _Exorcist_ saga where she would just spend the entire evening mocking the director and producers for how utterly _hilarious_ she finds both the plot and special effects.  
  
Trouble is, Robin would probably laugh along with her. She’s morbid enough to do so and, by now, he knows for a fact that she’s not easily impressionable. Whilst Zoro thinks the film is not scary by any means (truthfully, both its premises and their execution are quite underwhelming for his atheist ass), he still wouldn’t really laugh about it, just be mildly put off by the bodily fluids and whatnots the person who directed the movie was apparently so fond of.  
  
“My sister is…”, he pauses. “Well, most of our interactions are made of Perona screaming at me for whatever is rubbing her the wrong way at the moment, but she’s one of the best people I know”.  
  
He may not look like it most times, but he’s fiercely protective of her, even though she’s older than him and more than capable to take care of herself. She’s the one who used to scare away other kids when Zoro was little and wanted to play by himself at the park, although not even Perona, with all that she tried, and _hard_ , was enough of a shield against Luffy’s exuberance.   
  
“She was raised by the same person who raised you, I am sure she’s exquisite”.  
  
“ _Ah_ , Robin! There you are!”  
  
Saul’s voice is a deep, joyous baritone.  
  
He really took it upon himself to look after his best friend’s daughter when tragically she passed; whilst Robin didn’t always cooperate in this sense, hiding in the desert and keeping him at distance, he can tell there’s some serious progress here that he should be happy about.  
  
He was just as surprised as her friends were when from a distance he stared at the girl as she stepped up and challenged the other swimmer. He’s aware of her little _issue_ with water.  
  
She may have done more progress in the almost six months she spent in Grand Line City than in the two years after Olvia’s death, but it was still shocking to see her take such a big, unexpected step so soon. He feels so proud of her and, mostly, _relieved_ , Saul is afraid he might just burst.  
  
“And who this handsome young man would be?”  
  
He tries to keep it casual and light-hearted, but it’s not like he didn’t notice just how close the green-haired teen stands to the brunette. She’s eighteen and, despite some past lapses of judgement, she has a sound mind sitting on top of her neck.  
  
If she thinks this boy is worth her time, he is happy for her. Someone else, however, namely the person Robin is running from, probably won’t be as nice if he gets the hint. As much as it contrasts with the front he puts up now, there’s no denying how over-protective of his fiancée’s daughter he was. Hell, one would say Kuzan thought of her as his own. He certainly acted like it.  
  
Robin’s legal tutor never understood what prompted the sudden change of heart, initially pinning his disappearance on his inability to recover from Olvia’s departure, but now that he’s back into the teenager’s life, one of her professors at that, he’s not so sure anymore.  
  
He encourages Robin not to be overtly rude for obvious reasons, he wouldn’t want a potential poor reaction on the man’s part to damage her academic future, but he is wary of Kuzan’s renewed interest in her. That’s why he’d rather they interact in front of him and not when he’s out of town and can’t keep an eye on the girl he’s responsible for.   
  
“Zoro. Roronoa Zoro”.  
  
A hand reaches out to him, politely, and Saul shakes it with enthusiasm. “Jaguar D. Saul”, he says. “I am glad to see Robin is bonding with her schoolmates…”  
  
“Anyone who’s not nice to her will have the whole crew to answer to”, Zoro retorts, a serious look in his eyes even as his mouth curls up in a suave smirk. “Besides, she’s impossible not to like”.  
  
His girlfriend thinks that perhaps he has had enough champagne already, because she can see the gears turning in her tutor’s mind, trying to figure out if there’s a deeper meaning to his words.  
  
Saul is interrupted, however, as two things happen all at once.  
  
Just as Aokiji finally catches up with the trio, looking somewhat displeased as his dark eyes land on the green-haired boy, three other people join as well, louder and less composedly, not at all deterred by the math professor’s presence.  
  
“ _Finally_! We’ve been looking for you guys for over an hour!”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so, it's finally Halloween in this story, uh? 😅 
> 
> Took some time for us to get there, and I'm afraid we'll be stuck here for a little longer, but I plan on posting the following chapter relatively soon, so fingers crossed I'll manage to do it! To be completely honest, I like what follows a lot more, but it was somewhat necessary, since I decided this tournament was a thing, lol. 
> 
> Just a couple of clarifications in case you guys have any doubts:  
> 1) the ten disciplines for the first round of the tournament were picked randomly from the Olympics' website, although I didn't really focus a lot on it because I am as far from a sports person as you can get, lol;  
> 2) that being said, I figured that someone who hasn't practiced one for a long time and is simultaneously working through some drama probably wouldn't have a great performance in real life, but it's fanfiction and yeah, just quickly invoking poetic license here before you come for my head in the comments section;  
> 3) since I needed some members for both Galley-La and God's Army, I decided that the former, with the exception of Paulie, would include random villains from the original story turned into teenagers, and the latter would be made up of Skypiea's inhabitants, regardless of their feelings towards Enel in the manga/anime (they'll probably never appear again, lol). 
> 
> Hoping you enjoyed this update, I'll talk to you guys in the next!  
> If you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts! 💖


	22. Thriller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Perona is the older sister everyone wish they had, and the Straw-Hats show up at Drake's party.  
> (Don't let Bepo buy your Halloween costume).

“Finally! We’ve been looking for you guys for over an hour!”  
  
Nami is very observant, it doesn’t take a genius to pick up on the tension in the air.  
  
It may help that she’s one of the few people who knows about Zoro and Robin’s relationship, and incidentally about Aokiji’s disgusting behavior in the past, but Sanji, who possesses her same elements, seems unfazed. Vivi is none the wiser, yet she seems slightly more aware of the subtle awkwardness they are currently standing right in the middle of.  
  
What’s the most surprising is the frown on the teacher’s face as he stares down at the green-haired swordsman, at the mere inches separating the wool of his tuxedo and the satin of her dress.  
  
If she hadn’t caught them up in Mystoria Nami would have probably got her confirmation now that something is quite past friendly between them, but it still doesn’t explain Aokiji’s reaction.  
  
It’s not like he would know, right?  
  
“Vivi and I decided to leave a little earlier and get ready at my house. We also have Sanji-kun’s make-up to take care of, since his costume relies heavily on that, so we’ll be heading for the car as soon as we can find Kaya… _Ne_ , Robin, are you coming with us? We can drop by your house to get the things you need. Zoro, do you need help as well?”  
  
“Oh, I’d love to, Nami-san”, the girl replies, grateful for the opportunity to slip away. She doesn’t want to talk Kuzan, although he seems hellbent on talking to her. “If it’s not a problem for you… Just… Let me say goodbye, first”.  
  
Robin turns around, smiling apologetically at Saul.  
  
“It’s okay”, he waves her off with one hand, laughing. “I’ll just have Kuzan entertain me for a little while and then go back to my hotel. I am quite tired from the early flight I took this morning…”  
  
“I’ll call you tomorrow”, she promises, although her eyes somewhat end up on the math professor as she says so. His eyes widen in surprise, but he nods and looks away before she can make it clear that it’s not _him_ she was addressing, despite what her body language suggested.  
  
 _Whatever_. What’s done is done.  
  
At least she doesn’t have to go through it right now.   
  
“Have fun, _kids_. You deserve to celebrate your success”, Kuzan tells the students, although it’s more of a reproach than an encouragement. “I’d just like to remind you that classes will still begin at thirty past eight tomorrow morning and latecomers _won’t_ be tolerated”.  
  
“That won’t be a problem, Professor”, Vivi reiterates. “Kizaru-sama wouldn’t let us hear the end of it if we didn’t show up in time for his lecture…”  
  
With a polite smile, she tilts her head in acknowledgement before she starts to drag Nami and Sanji away. The sous-chef does not protest her action, but the orange-haired girl still shows their teacher that she knows how despicable he is outside of school.  
  
For someone who always held him in very high regard, it’s been tough for Nami to come to terms with the fact he straight up abandoned a child to fend off for themselves. Not as tough as it must have been for Robin when she found herself all alone in the world, of course.  
  
Zoro seems just as displeased as she is, she doesn’t miss the subtle hold he has on her wrist as the group begins searching for the rest of the crew.  
  
Rather than Kaya and Usopp, it’s Luffy, his brothers and a strange selection of their friends from high school which they stumble into at first. Ace and Sabo congratulate the Straw-Hats and praise them for the awesome performance. Being the only team who scored five points in a single strike, they are now the favored candidate and sit at the top of the list.  
  
Koala envelops Robin in a tight hug before introducing the brunette to her dear friend Belo Betty and the latter’s boyfriend, Karasu, whilst Ace makes, strangely, a beeline for Vivi, but the princess ignores his attempts to start up a conversation.  
  
This picks up Nami’s attention, because while her blue-haired friend is famous for not being very warm towards boys, it’s not like her to be deliberately rude to someone who’s showing her nothing but kindness.  
  
Marco is here, as well, but he’s soon dragged away by his best friend as the two go looking for their then sponsor, Whitebeard. The newly appointed chief of police, this job being the only reason he stopped teaching, is practically a New Marineford legend.  
  
Sabo looks out of sorts, alternating angry glances between both of his exes.  
  
Koala hasn’t talked to him for over a month now, glaring daggers at him every single time he has even dared looking at her. He misses her like hell.  
  
On the other hand, Betty and Karasu just stomach him out of principle. What sets him off is not that they are in love now, but that they were in love behind his back.  
  
They never apologized, never as much as acknowledged all the pain and insecurity they caused him, yet they are perfectly comfortable eating each other’s face off in his presence, as if he doesn’t even exist.  
  
“Do you have any plans for later?”, he asks no one in particular, hoping to stir up enough conversation to distract him from the sucking sounds coming from his left side. “I don’t buy it that this is all you’re doing to celebrate your big victory”.  
  
“Actually, we are going to a party…”  
  
As plans are made to join Luffy and his friends at a schoolmate’s party, Sabo zones out and kind of starts to regret the decision, because Koala, too, accepts enthusiastically.  
  
“You can all come to my house and get ready with us, if you want. There’s enough space to fit everyone”, Nami offers. “We are supposed to put on a costume tonight, but I’m sure we can come up with something for you guys, too”.  
  
“Thank you, sweetheart”, Belo Betty interrupts, chewing loudly on her bubble gum. “But Karasu and I will just go back to campus. I have an exam next week and God knows I haven’t missed this place. It was a pleasure meeting you”.  
  
Things turn simultaneously calmer _and_ stiffer as the couple leaves.  
  
Sabo is relieved he won’t have to put up with their noisy making out sessions for the rest of the night, but he could at least use their presence as an excuse to stand by the sidelines. When Ace and Marco return, he’ll be forced to join the action once more, least his brother(s) think there’s something wrong with him, but he dreads that moment.  
  
He doesn’t want Koala to stare coldly and disapprovingly at him, which is pretty much the only interaction they’ve had in the past thirty days.  
  
She doesn’t answer his calls, she doesn’t reply to his texts. She really wants the clean slate she mentioned that one time she agreed to talk to him and he made things even worse between them.  
  
“We should probably start going now”, Nami calls everyone back to order. “Hey, Luffy did you see Kaya and Usopp? Chopper? I want to make sure we’re all on the same page about this party…”  
  
“I think they’ve figured out that you want to go by now”, the swordsman chimes in, “It’s the only thing you’ve been talking about all afternoon…”  
  
“Congratulations, Zoro. Your debt just increased a symbolic three thousand belies”.  
  
“What for?”  
  
“Being rude to me”.   
  
“I don’t think Kaya and Usopp will be joining us”. Sanji has his blue eyes set on the other side of the ballroom, where the couple is talking to the girl’s parents. What’s unusual about the sight is the third adult standing next to them, just as engrossed in the conversation. “Isn’t that Yasopp?”  
  
“Uh, Yasopp?”, Luffy turns immediately, a big grin blooming spontaneously on his lips. “Wait! Does that mean Shanks…”  
  
Sabo is quick to burst his bubble. “Isn’t he recording the new _Ship Wars_ in Goa Kingdom? Sorry, buddy”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , right”. His shoulders slump a little, it has been months since the last time he saw his godfather. To say he idolizes the man, somehow even more than his endless list of groupies, would be a major, inaccurate understatement. He practically worships the ground Red-Haired Shanks walks on. “ _Oi_ , guys, look what he sent me this morning!”  
  
The Straw-Hat’s captain shows the audience the beautiful landscape coming to live in his screen, the wet, glistening rocks and thick vegetation surrounding a small enclosure where the river flow meets the tall, somber woods, creating a small, natural waterfall that provides just the perfect backdrop for the romantic scene that’ll probably shake the Ship Wars fandom to the core.  
  
A lot of hype surrounds the seventh installment of the series, where the character Shanks has been portraying for over a decade is supposed to finally come to terms with his destiny.  
  
Even people who don’t plan to watch it find themselves talking about it these days.  
  
“We’ve been to Dawn Island!”  
  
Ace returns, but on his own. He mumbles something about Marco having to work (aka being too embarrassed by the idea of dragging his almost thirty-years-old ass to a teenager’s party).  
  
“One-hundred-percent would _not_ recommend”, Koala snickers. “We went there for our senior trip and I got food-poisoning at the hotel’s restaurant the very first night. It took two days just to find a doctor, but he was more of a natural healer or whatever he called himself… Needless to say, I had to be urgently shipped to the closest island and spent the rest of the trip there”.  
  
“You didn’t miss much, although Akainu falling on his ass when we visited Grey Terminal made up for the lost opportunity to go somewhere we would actually have fun. Can you believe he wanted to suspend us for laughing?”  
  
“Believe me, my only regret is that I didn’t insist”.  
  
Frozen silence settles on the small group as Sakazuki’s voice unexpectedly pipes up somewhere behind them.  
  
The vice-principal has a stern expression as he gauges his least favorite student of all of time, Portgas D. Ace.  
  
It’s only Garp’s presence somewhere in the room and the utmost respect he has for his older brother-in-arms that prevents him from kicking the former student out of the party.  
  
“Ah, Professor!” A lopsided smirk, small freckles staring back at him as black eyes narrow slightly. The young man’s amusement is clear. “Can’t say I’ve missed your classes”.  
  
Nami and the others take it as their cue to leave, leaving Luffy and his brothers behind with the promise to meet up again later.  
  
Kaya and Usopp confirm they’ll linger at the party for a little longer, seeing as they have both been starving for some time with their families, especially the latter, while Zoro accompanies the girls and Sanji to the car, but shakes his head when Nami asks him if he wants to get ready at her house with the rest of them once more.  
  
Franky says his costume is not easy to transport, so he’ll meet them directly at Drake’s house, while Chopper is still caught up with his mother parading him around and boasting his grades, so they just text him and tell him that they are leaving, but he is more than welcome to join them later at Nami's if he wants to.  
  
With everyone accounted for, the Straw-Hats split into smaller groups and Nami gets behind the steering wheel, her car full. She has no idea now just how long the night ahead of them truly is.

* * *

* * *

Zoro stands in front of the mirror, staring blankly at his reflection.  
  
Despite not being the type of boy who indulges in this kind of thoughts, he thinks he looks good. Sure, most of the merit goes to the costume Perona has handsewn for him, accessories included, but, ultimately, he’s the one who slaved away, catering to her every whim, for over two weeks.  
  
The deal was simple, he accepted to do things for her ( _anything_ ) and she’d put her incredible talent at his service. Now that his sister has uphold her end of the bargain and the image in the mirror matches perfectly the rough sketch he gave her, the only hint as to what exactly he needed her to craft, there’s no denying his sacrifice has been worth it.   
  
His costume is made up of three main pieces: black, tight-fitting pants, a leather tunic in a dark reddish brown and, to top it all off, an over-sized coat with a mandarin collar, made of fake leather as well.  
  
As they say, the devil is in the details.  
  
Each button, brooch, seam has been treated dutifully and with the utmost care, there isn’t a single loose thread of fabric she needs to cut off last minute, because the clothes are already perfect as they are. A belt, combat boots and a sash that goes around his chest, to which Sandai Kitetsu has been already secured, complete the ensemble.  
  
“I am so fucking awesome”, Perona hums. “Who would have thought? Even you look handsome in my creations”.   
  
“Uh, thank you?”  
  
“You’re very welcome, darling”. She dips the makeup brush in the black, glittery eyeshadow, but hesitates upon bringing it to his face. “Are you sure about this?”  
  
When Zoro asked her to do his makeup, too, she didn’t think much of it at first. It’s Halloween, a.k.a. her favorite time of the year, people go out in all different kinds of costumes and makeup. Sometimes the makeup _is_ the costume, the more original, less natural looking, the better.  
  
But this is Zoro. Her little brother. He has perhaps five different colors in his closet and fifty copies of the same white, boring t-shirt. It’s not like him to go out of his way. Hell, when he first mentioned his friend’s idea to dress up for Halloween (like, there’s even the need for someone to suggest it?) she thought he would just put on his stupid bandana, grab his swords and call it a day.  
  
Sure, there’s still a blade attached to his chest, but he’s almost unrecognizable now, not really because of how he looks, but for the extra steps he took to get to his present state.  
  
“Why not?” He shrugs. “It’s Halloween. I think my masculinity will manage”.  
  
“Right”.  
  
The pinkette starts working on his eyelid, dusting the black eyeshadow on the outer part and then blending it with a clean brush. She repeats the same step over and over, on both eyes, then does the same with a smaller, more precise brush, tracing a thin line just beneath his lower lashes.   
  
He downright refuses to be “ _poked in the eyes_ ” with the mascara (to him, it’s just a miniature size of the thing people usually keep next to their toilette, _yikes_ ), but he doesn’t protest when Perona turns her attention to his eyebrows.  
  
“So, I assume your sudden interest for a tradition which, and I quote, appeals only to dysfunctional people and _weirdos_ , has nothing to do with the fact Robin will be at this party you’re going to…”  
  
“Hey, that’s unfair”, he retorts. “I was thirteen, mind you, and mad because Luffy stole the pirate idea for the fourth year in a row”.  
  
“Not to defend him, but it took you five tries to finally move on to something else. It’s not like you were any more original”, Perona laughs. “Please, don’t tell me he’s still going as a pirate every year”.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_. With the hat and everything”.  
  
“Zoro?”  
  
“Mh?”  
  
“…You forgot to deny the second part”.  
  
“Would it help my case?”  
  
“No. Not really”.

* * *

“…Are you sure you don’t want Kumashi to drop you off?”  
  
Zoro checks the time on his phone, shuddering. “And get there for Christmas? No, thank you”.  
  
The group chat was blown with messages as the Straw-Hats agreed on where to meet and how. Things got so chaotic at some point Nami decided it would be best if they just met up in front of Drake’s house around eight, which is… twenty minutes from now.  
  
He doesn’t live very far from him, but he has to move by foot if he wants to drink tonight, which he does, he desperately does, so he better get started with his hike.  
  
“What about tonight?”  
  
“I’ll just walk back either home or to Usopp’s apartment. I don’t know, I’ll figure something out”.  
  
“When you’re drunk. Excellent idea”, Perona scoffs, grabbing her purse and car-keys. “I’ll keep the volume on my phone on, do call me if you need something”.  
  
“What are you doing? Shouldn’t you start getting ready for your party?”  
  
She’s by the entrance now, putting on her jacket before opening the door that leads to the garage.  
  
“Cool people show up when the party has already started”.  
  
The drive to Drake’s house is quiet, accompanied only by the sound of Perona’s favorite songs.  
  
He wonders what kind of costumes the others have picked out, but there’s only one person, truly, who Zoro can’t wait to lay his eyes on. She looked so pretty earlier at the receipt, Robin might actually give him a stroke tonight depending on whom she decided to pose as.  
  
He wished he told her earlier how impressed he is by what she accomplished today, or how beautiful that particular shade of blue sits on her skin.  
  
When he first started dating her, the swordsman was quite adamant she would one day snap out of whatever lucid dream she was under and call it quits. As they took the first tentative steps in their relationship, the feeling only aggravated; the more he got to know her (and kiss her) and spent time with her, the more he could only think of how desperately out of her league she really is.  
  
But Robin’s smile was always there, warm and soft, a ray of hope in the worst days, and little by little, with every open-mouthed kiss and every eager touch of permanently cold fingers, it finally became clear that she is, somehow, if not as crazy about him as he feels about her, at least not intentioned to run away clutching at her pearls at the first opportunity that she gets.  
  
His reasoning behind keeping their relationship to themselves has been pretty simple: he didn’t want to expose it to outside scrutiny, knowing that something so little and fragile would crack under the pressure. Now, however, he’s growing more confident.  
  
She is sticking around, she is still wrapping her arms around him and melting into his, so, for the first time, he is starting to wonder what _her_ reasons might be.  
  
Robin didn’t suggest otherwise that one time they talked about it, although she’s exceptionally at ease with the captain, Nami and Sanji knowing about them. Koala is probably aware, too.  
  
Anyway, his girlfriend never brought up the issue again, but he’s considering doing so himself.  
  
There’s nothing wrong in wanting to hold her hand and ask her to dance the next time they are celebrating a big victory and she looks stunning.   
  
By the gates of Drake’s property he meets Ace, Sabo and Luffy, who all bawl their eyes out upon seeing that the only person they expected to be dressed worse than them (again, the swordsman is not famous for the attention he dedicates to his wardrobe) is in reality _rocking_ their outfit of choice.  
  
“Traitor”, Ace sniffs. “When did you of all people become an _adult_ , Zoro?”  
  
He's sporting… well, he’s supposed to be a mummy, so he’s wearing underwear, a pair of white sneakers, white capri pants and a lot of toilet paper wrapped around his arms and chest.  
  
Considering the time of the year, the temperature outside is not forgiving.  
  
Ace may be trying to play it tough, but the clenched teeth and subtle jumps on the spot, as if trying to keep the blood flowing in his legs, give him away.  
  
Sabo doesn’t look any happier, but at least he has lost the frown he sported earlier. When he and Belo Betty used to be an item, somewhere around three years ago, they were still students of New Marineford and already friends with Karasu, so he can see where all the animosity steams from.  
  
But isn’t he dating Koala now?  
  
Colorful lines run across his face, black tracing his most prominent features. An old wooden frame hangs from his neck, but without a canvas. He uses it as a necklace.  
  
A white paper square pinned to its bottom part recites “POP ART”.  
  
Finally, Luffy looks like his usual self, the straw-hat on his head matching the one he has tattooed on his ankle, wearing blue jeans and a red tunic. Fake pistols hang from his belt, but Zoro would never guess he is a pirate tonight without knowing that’s what he is aiming for.  
  
“Nami and the others should be here soon”, he says.  
  
“Kaya and Usopp are waiting for us inside. You should see Usopp’s costume, the beard is _sick_ … Anyway, Chopper is still getting ready, so he and Franky will join us later. Not sure whether Barto, Cabbage and Rebecca decided to come in the end”.  
  
It's another ten minutes before a mini-van pulls up in the driveaway and the group of five steps out of it, Nami tagging behind to pay the driver. Just like Zoro, she knows she probably won’t be able to drive later. The Straw-Hats moved to the second round and, thanks to Robin, with flying colors, she’ll be damned if she doesn’t celebrate the occasion properly.  
  
“Hey, guys. I hope you didn’t wait too long”.  
  
Sanji is the first to approach them, in an off-white ensemble that shines beneath the streetlight. Big, fluffy wings are sitting on his back, white with small specks of golden. His satiny shirt leaves his chest partially unveiled, there’s gold glitter dusted all over it.  
  
“What the fuck are _you_ supposed to be?”  
  
“A vampire hunter, twirly-brow, _duh_?”  
  
“I guess I was thrown off by the sword. Shouldn’t you have some sort of crossbow, or at least a wooden stick to deal with the vampires?”, Sanji seizes his appearance up and down, genuinely surprised by the effort he has put into his costume this year. “Bet you didn’t think that far, moss-head…”  
  
“Last time I checked, decapitation worked just as good. Why would I take advice from _Sailor Moon_ , anyway?”  
  
A dainty hand squeezes his right bicep. Robin is famous for her… peculiar sense of humor, but never, not in his wildest dreams would have Zoro imagined the words that come out of her mouth next, whispered into his ear.  
  
“You know…”, she pauses, long nails tracing the outline of the muscle on top of the double-layered leather. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on in my life”.  
  
His brain takes more time than he would admit to properly register her statement.  
  
The swordsman turns around, slowly, eyes widening at the sight before him and lips parting in a wicked mix of surprise and genuine admiration.  
  
He has never been much of a gamer, but he spent his fair share of hours, a decade or so ago, exploring deadly tombs, looking for ancient artifacts and killing assassins as the character she is now cosplaying so effortlessly. Seriously, though, Robin is the _perfect_ Lara Croft.  
  
Her olive tank top ends up right above her bellybutton, exposing the inward dip of her hips as the black, tight, tiny shorts she is wearing leave most of her long, toned legs uncovered.  
  
Thick, black stripes of fabric are attached to her belt, crisscrossing around her thighs and supporting twin Match pistols. Her outfit is completed by a pair of jungle boots, a shiny necklace that plunges into the neckline of her shirt and a fishtail braid resting over her left shoulders. Her bangs have been opened like curtains on her forehead, her makeup is simple, yet effective. There’s even fake dirt smudged on her arms, legs and the side of her face, as if she just got back from an archaeology trip.  
  
Zoro is speechless, he can’t believe neither his ears nor his eyes. The only coherent thought he can muster, as his head dips down and he plants a small kiss on her cheek under the pretense of a normal greeting, is that he wants to get the _fuck_ out of here, hide his nose in the crook of her neck and breathe her in until he passes away from exhaustion, or she starts smelling a little less good.  
  
The smile she’s showing him, coy eyes shadowed by long lashes, isn’t helping either.  
  
Robin just stares back at him with an amused expression, lingering on the makeup Perona’s expert hands have applied to his face.   
  
“Aren’t you just the perfect Kaneshiro…”, she muses. “I have to admit, I am surprised you’re acquainted with the series. I didn’t think it would be your cup of tea”.  
  
His cheeks flash instantly pink. Truth is, he is not exactly acquainted with the fantasy saga.  
  
He just happened to notice the volumes in her library, their worn pages suggesting they had been read many times despite being placed so low on the shelves, around the same time Luffy reminded the crew he expected them to dress up for Halloween.  
  
A rapid search on google images and he had enough ideas to draw the sketch he gave Perona, but that’s about it. He just knows that the protagonist (Kaneshiro, it turns out) is a vampire hunter, but he can’t tell her that, can he? She would think he’s an absolute _dork_.  
  
“Well, he’s… _Uh_ , he’s pretty cool”. He nods his head for extra emphasis, hoping it’ll be enough to get her off his case for the time being and give him a chance to properly educate himself on the novels. “He’s a swordsman, isn’t he? I can relate to that”.  
  
Robin giggles. “Oh, you… _relate_? That’s interesting”, she makes a pause, eyeing him with such hilarity in her blue eyes that she doesn’t need to elaborate for Zoro to understand he just made a fool of himself, and spectacularly. “I always thought the whole quest for the _Sword of Aldernon_ was just a complex allegory for Kaneshiro’s deeper desire to finally come to terms with _her_ inner self…”  
  
“Is that… Is that bad?”  
  
“…whom, as we discover in the epilogue, happens to be a _she_ ”.  
  
… _Ah_. He did not see that coming, although he at least now knows why the reviews online contained so much hateful crap.  
  
The more power to Kaneshiro if she found her true self, of course, that also explains why he saw so many male cosplays of the concept, to the point he just assumed Kaneshiro to be a man, but he sees now why Robin would find it amusing that he just claimed he relates to the character’s story.  
  
(If Perona was here, she’d probably like to remind him she taught him better than this, that she didn’t waste hours of her life educating him on social issues and human rights for him to make such a piss poor figure.  
  
Then again, his sister is a huge fan of the saga, her eyes literally shined as they landed on the costume’s doodle, so he can’t help but feel a little as if she deliberately set him up for this.)  
  
“I love the costume, by the way”, his girlfriend continues, noticing his internal conflict. The quality of both fabrics and sewing is superb, there’s no way he just ordered it online and put it on. From the way it snuggles to his body in all the right places, after all, it’s evident that it was tailored to suit _him_ specifically. “It must have costed you a fortune”.   
  
“What a surprise, Zoro!”  
  
Nami finally joins the rest of the group, hugging all her friends and basking in their compliments as she twirls around to show off her outfit.  
  
She’s sporting red wings even bigger than the ero-cook’s, a tight, latex-like dress that leaves very little to imagination and shiny red horns on her head, a couple of shades lighter than her lipstick.   
  
“The devil, uh?”, he chuckles. “I bow down to the authenticity”.  
  
One by one, everyone’s costumes are praised and, sometimes, clarified. Koala has borrowed some clothes from Nami, posing as a flower-child, whilst Vivi is dressed in traditional Alabastan clothing. The white cotton wrapped around her figure is kept into place by the golden collar around her neck, which is embedded in precious stones.  
  
The skirt is see-through once it gets past her crotch area, flowing down to her calves. Her hair is styled around the golden tiara sitting on top of her head, cascading behind her back in voluminous curls. Giant, chandelier earrings dangle from her earlobes, drawing the attention to her face.  
  
As the group sets out for Drake’s house, eager to join the rest of their crewmates, someone jokes about Ace and the princess sporting matching costumes, as mummies are a huge part of Alabasta’s folklore, and Zoro is somehow startled by how violently she reacts to it.  
  
Vivi doesn’t say anything, but she sends a feral glare in Ace’s direction, which, since she’s usually one of the politest people he knows, strikes the swordsman as odd. But he doesn’t have time to dwell over any of this, because Robin takes advantage of their position tagging at the back of the line to hold his hand, wrapping her small fingers around his much larger ones.  
  
They don’t even make it inside the house before familiar faces start popping up here and there, lawn to wooden patio, all eager to greet the newcomers and raise their red paper cups at them.  
  
The Straw-Hats are in the good graces of pretty much the entire school today after wiping the stage with Enel’s ass so spectacularly.  
  
Zoro stops on the threshold of Drake’s house, using his hold on Robin’s hand to turn her around until she is facing him, her chest colliding with his as she looks up questioningly at him.  
  
“Before we get interrupted and I forget again…”, he releases his grip on her wrist, but only to rest his hand on the small of her back. There are many people around, but he doesn’t care and neither, it would appear, does she. “You were– It’s just… It’s incredible what you did today”.  
  
“ _Mh_ , is it?”  
  
The mockery isn’t too open in her voice, but the swordsman has been through enough rough patches in his short life to recognize self-deprecation when it slaps him so blatantly in the face.  
  
His girlfriend is very much like him in this sense, a thousand times harder on herself than she would be on everybody else, which is exactly why he has felt such a strong urge to compliment her on her earlier feat.  
  
He knows she won’t give herself any credit unless someone else doesn’t do it first.  
  
“Are you kidding me?”, Zoro snorts. “Only you could do it and you did it even though just the idea was excruciating for you… _For the team_. Call me an idiot, but that’s pretty fucking badass to me”.  
  
“You should stop being so nice to me, you know?”, she retorts. “You’re making it pretty damn hard to keep my hands to myself…”  
  
Her voice drops several octaves over the last part, as her now free hand comes up to play with his earrings. He changed them for the occasion, upside down silver crosses replacing the familiar droplets of pure gold, but they tinkle just the same as her fingers brush over them.   
  
“Then don’t”.  
  
 _Fuck it_ – he thinks. _Things won’t change unless he does something about it_.  
  
“Mh”.  
  
Robin studies his face for a long moment, looking for even the faintest trace of mockery and deceit, but finding none. Dark orbs just stare back at her, eloquently, reading into the depths of her soul.  
  
There’s something akin to shame in his black eyes, mixed with something much sweeter; it’s an odd look on the swordsman’s face, but it’s not out of place.  
  
If anything, it makes him all the more attractive, which, judging by how impossibly hot she already feels while standing outside in a cold October night with very little clothing to shield her from the freezing weather, says more than enough as to what her thoughts on the handsome boy in her arms are. _Honestly_ , _the things she_ wouldn’t _do to him_ …  
  
“I will keep that in mind”.

* * *

A fair amount of self-complacence shines in Drake’s eyes as he stands by the door with his best friend. The party has only just begun but the house is already packed.  
  
The whole school (or at least, everyone with a social life) is showing up for what he’s sure will be an unforgettable night. The glasses are full and Apoo’s dj-set is dragging even the laziest guests to the dancefloor, where they blend into one, giant, colorful patchwork of human limbs and Halloween costumes.  
  
“X” Drake welcomes people into his home with a friendly smile, wishing everyone a good time, but his eyes flicker to the door as every newcomer walks through it and it’s not the person he’s looking forward to see.  
  
Seniors are aware by now that he isn’t to be trusted with their hearts, too invested in enhancing his playboy reputation to form a genuine connection with someone, but Nico Robin is not.  
  
At first, he truly didn’t mind hooking up with younger girls, it’s easier to convince them they are _the one_ who will make him a honest man, but as time went by and he matured a little, not so much that he'd stop playing with other people’s feelings, but enough to realize his own aren’t being catered to properly, Drake finds himself craving a real relationship, someone who would truly care about him.   
  
Now, who better to do that than someone who just moved to New Marineford, knows nearly nothing about him and, as a welcome bonus, also looks smoking hot?  
  
He wasn’t sure this was a good idea at first, as she appears to be quite the silent, mysterious type, but as the school year progresses, she is letting the Straw-Hats inside her bubble, isn’t she?  
  
Why wouldn’t she be interested in the captain of the soccer team?  
  
“You’re wasting your time…”, Urouge snorts. “And _mine_ ”.  
  
“The Straw-Hats said they’d come”, his best friend insists. “She is a Straw-Hat”.  
  
“She’s not into you”.  
  
“Yet”.  
  
“No, dude. She’s not into _you_ ”. Urouge fidgets with his wig, short grey curls sitting on top of his head as he absolutely rocks the cat-lady costume. “There”.  
  
“How can you be so…?”  
  
Drake follows his pal’s eyes until they land on the literal vision that has just appeared on his threshold, but his joy is short-lived as he then notices the muscular, leather-clad chest she’s leaning into.  
  
One of Zoro’s hands rests on her back and the two crewmates look quite cozy; Robin doesn’t seem to mind the primitive signal the arm he keeps around her waist sends to the rest of the room, she is too busy caressing his face and laughing at whatever the swordsman is telling her.  
  
Urouge’s laugh is a haunting sound. “It seems Roronoa has beaten you to it”.

* * *

Bepo and Law get to Drake’s party around eleven p.m., when people are already too intoxicated to notice that the algid RA’s co-captain is parading around in a costume, with props and everything, sulking as he follows closely behind his best friend.  
  
He should have never accepted that stupid bet. He should know by now that Bepo only surrenders to the impulse to gamble when he is sure he will win.  
  
A cheeky Sherlock Holmes wiggles his eyebrows at him, happy that for once he has managed to get his way with Law, forcing him to wear the costume he picked for him as he upholds his end of the bargain, although his friend presently refuses to talk to him.   
  
The fake police uniform fits snugly to his body, handcuffs chained to the same belt to which the small satchel holding his plastic gun is strapped to.  
  
Law refused to put on the hat, but he guesses there’s worse things the other could have chosen.   
  
At least he can appreciate the irony of selling weed in his present ensemble.  
  
People don’t hesitate to whisk him away, eager to get the party started with the delicacies they are sure he brought along with him. Law looks perfectly in his element as he hands small packages around and counts the banknotes before storing them away neatly in his wallet, but on the inside, he dies a little bit more as every plastic wrap is passed around.  
  
Even assuming he’ll manage to get rid of everything he has stored in his pockets (he has to give it to Bepo, at least the police uniform has many of them, which is quite handy), there’s no predicting when Doflamingo will raise his quota again. He only knows that he will.  
  
This mess is taking its toll on his mental health, he knows it’s only a matter of time before his emotions bottle up too much and he implodes, but who could he even turn to? There’s only one person who cares enough about him to help, he made sure of that, but he’ll never let his white-haired friend get caught up in his uncle’s web of violence and malfeasance.   
  
“Trafalgar, you son of a bitch”, Killer pats a drunk, heavy hand on his shoulders, a thousand belies or so sitting on the other one. “We were starting to think you wouldn’t show up”.  
  
Now, Law is aware that it’s all a façade, that his classmate is this nice to him only because he wants to get high and he's the person he can get the weed from, but he plays along for the sake of appearances. They are teammates, the RA passed the round today, he still has no proof they’re behind what happened to Bepo at Basil’s birthday party… No, it’s better if he acts as nothing happened, keeps his eyes open for any future wrongdoings and hopes none occurs.  
  
“Just trying to get into this stupid thing”, he scoffs, gesturing vaguely at the blue, itchy fabric wrapped around his body. “The pants kept opening on the sides for some reason…”  
  
“You can arrest me at any time, officer”, Basil practically purrs in his ear, dragging a finger suggestively across his back, tracing the length of his spine. When his former lover whips his head around to glare daggers at him, unimpressed, the blond takes a step back and gulps down another huge sip from the bottle of gin he was keeping in his free hand. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, Trafalgar, but I’m afraid it’s a stripper’s costume the one you’re wearing…”  
  
“It is not”, Law quips, eyes narrowing at the blue uniform before they search for his best friend.  
  
A blush starts spreading on his face as he shows him an apologetic smile, but it’s only when he brings both hands to his temples and clutches at his hair that the fire sets off on Law’s cheeks.  
  
“Oh, no”, Bepo gasps. “ _Chopper_ ”.  
  
“What about him?”  
  
“He was with me when I bought your costume. He got his in the same place…”  
  
“Where the _fuck_ did you even buy that?”, Killer chimes in. He’s dressed as Edward Scissorhands, weird, metallic hands included, blond, teased hair sitting wildly on top of his head. “I mean, I don’t judge, mate, but you have to go to some pretty specific places to get your hands on that kind of _shit_ …”  
  
Law doesn’t miss the way Bepo whimpers when their classmate addresses him directly, it takes all of his self-control not to punch him right here and now.  
  
The dark-haired boy is, however, distracted as a straw-hat enters his line of sight.  
  
“It looked like a perfectly respectable place from the outside…”  
  
Monkey D. Luffy is surrounded by the people he loves the most, his friends and brothers.  
  
He laughs with his mouth open, eyes shining in amusement; both hands clutched at his sides, he finds it hard to catch his breath with all the fun he is having.  
  
Law doesn’t understand what he’s supposed to be dressed as, but he turns his head away the second those dark, beautiful eyes meet his. There’s a reason he has been avoiding him.  
  
He just can’t stop thinking about him…  
  
…or better, since this is Trafalgar Law, the boy with the heart of steel, it would be more accurate to say that he mostly manages just fine. Luffy is just the silly, annoying little thought that’s always lingering on the back of his mind, ready to ambush him at night, when the room is dark and the empty house feels exceptionally cold, or Law is too high and every fucking song blasting through his earphones at ungodly volumes seems to talk about the straw-hatted fool.  
  
( _Suddenly_ , because some of those playlists are half his age.)  
  
He doesn’t leave with Bepo when he shuffles away to warn Chopper about his firefighter pants potentially ripping away if he gets too excited on the dancefloor, exposing him to the rest of the guests. He just stands there. He’s already starting to feel exhausted even though he barely got here. Law doesn’t laugh when Kid jokes about Chopper flashing half of New Marineford.  
  
 _He must think he is so funny, uh_?

* * *

“I’m telling you, guys. You’ve lost a great reception”, Usopp insists, poking Sanji’s chest repeatedly with one finger. “Drunk Fujitora is the best”.  
  
He wears a white, oversized lab-coat and blue goggles, a white wig on his head that gives him instant mad scientist vibes; he even put white mascara on his eyebrows, but what really makes his costume recognizable is the blonde girl standing next to him, who’s sporting a perfect replica of the most iconic Marty McFly outfit of all times: high-waisted jeans, jean jacket, checkered shirt, a red puffer vest and, to top it all off, a neon green, yellow and pink handbag shaped like a hoverboard.   
  
Kaya nods in agreement, sipping from her fourth margarita.  
  
“Did you know that Professor Hina is dating Smoker?”  
  
“She’s _WHAT_?”, Nami squeaks in delight. “No, I had absolutely no idea. Is it recent?”  
  
“They looked pretty solid to me”, Ace pipes up. “With all the touching and everything”.  
  
“Uh, I can’t believe we missed _that_ ”, she laments. “Lola is going to be so heart-broken”.  
  
“Why would she even care?”  
  
Nami chuckles. “You see, Ace, Lola has a bit of a crush on Smoker-san”.  
  
“I may _vomit_ ”, Sabo chimes in, frowning. “Why Smoker of all people? C’mon!”  
  
“The heart wants what it wants…”, his brother replies, wistfully.  
  
He’s good at hiding the sideway glances he throws at Vivi, who is currently doing her best to stay as far away from his as possible, from time to time.  
  
Ace probably wouldn’t even notice this under normal circumstances, but the blue-haired princess has monopolized his thoughts more than he’d like to admit ever since the day he met her at the mall by herself, and now she is mad at him for absolutely no reason.  
  
It's been ten days since he asked her to go with him to the movies and she blew up in his face before they could even start watching the film.  
  
One moment he was saying hello to a friend from university he hadn’t seen in quite a while, the next Vivi was bailing on him, walking half the town by foot just so she could get away from him.  
  
If he didn’t know any better, Ace would think she was jealous of Kiku.  
  
Not only O-Kiku is the gayest woman he knows and, even if she was heterosexual or bi, she wouldn’t give Ace the time of the day: what would the princess even be jealous of? _Him_?  
  
 _Ah_!  
  
It's clear by now that she can’t stand him, although the thought is quite depressing.  
  
For starters, he may look like someone who has it all figured out, but, in reality, the self-conscious kid who believed it was his fault if his biological parents gave up on him is still hiding somewhere within Ace, ready to burst and push forward all his old insecurities.  
  
He never thought it would happen to him of all people, developing a crush for one of his younger brother’s friends. He is known to start relationships with a _bang_ and then lose interest exceptionally soon, but it’s been almost a month since he spilled her milkshake and bought her a new one, and he finds himself still quite mesmerized by the blue-haired girl, although he thinks of her as a fascinating idea rather than a potential opportunity.   
  
As much as he tries to push her out of his head, his thoughts always circle back to Vivi lately.   
  
“…Besides, we all know you’re mad just because you had a big crush on our lovely art professor”.  
  
For that she deals with her classes with an iron fist you wouldn’t expect from someone who teaches such an understated subject, Hina is very popular amongst her students, whether current or former. She may be tough, but she is _fair_. She’s one of the few who don’t play favorites.  
  
Ace turns to Koala after sharing his piece, expecting her to join him in some light-hearted fun at his brother’s expense, but not even a faint trace of amusement can be find on her face as she stares down at her orange boots, completely removing herself from the picture when Sabo becomes the center of attention. She doesn’t return his bashful grin.  
  
“ _Tsk_. As if”, the blond quips, a blush spreading on his cheeks that matches the neon red eyeshadow which he earlier applied to one of his eyes. This stupid pop-art makeup seemed a lot easier to accomplish from the way the girl in the online tutorial put it. “I don’t know what makes…”  
  
“ _Ne_ , Sabo”, Luffy interrupts him. “Are you telling me you’re not the one who drew her face, and I might add _repeatedly_ , on your old art textbook?”

* * *

Model and movie-star Boa Hancock likes to think of herself as a gracious host, which is the only reason she accepts to take pictures and sign autographs even in the sacred privacy of her own home, or doesn’t complain when some of her brother’s schoolmates invade her personal space with a bit too much exuberance.  
  
Seriously, though, some of the people Drake invited tonight are complete _savages_.  
  
Unlike Marigold and Sandersonia, who were quick to jump into the chaos and join New Marineford’s youth in their shenanigans, she can’t help it but keep herself to the sidelines, knowing that even when the setting is the most informal, as suggested by the drunk teenagers who are invading the house, there will always be someone with a camera at hand, ready to capture the moment she slips and share it with the rest of the world on the world wide web.  
  
Her life is a sheltered one, but it doesn’t come without its fair share of obligations and unpleasant compromises. For every simple mistake she makes, the audience’s reaction is harder, it reverberates for much longer. It takes very little for someone like her, a self-made performer with no familial ties to the industry, to get _cancelled_.  
  
The deep green taffeta of her halter-neck, imperial dress clings tightly to the curves of her body, which are further accentuated by the high heels on her feet. A crown of golden snakes sits around her forehead, small scales of green glitter expertly drawn on the sides of her face.  
  
If Medusa really existed, then she’d look like Boa Hancock.  
  
“Are you having fun?”  
  
A familiar voice pipes up behind her, making her turn around and smile lightly at brown-haired boy.  
  
Apoo is one of her brother’s oldest and closest friends, a recurring guest in their home ever since the two were in the same class at Marineford Prep.  
  
“Not really, but I never expected to”.  
  
He has grown immensely over the years and she kind of digs his Jesus impersonation, although she rolls her eyes at the cannabis leaf sewn to the white tunic he’s wearing, but in her eyes, even as he makes a name for himself as one of the hottest DJ in Grand Line City, he’s still a kid.  
  
Boa is four years older than Drake, two than Marigold and Sandersonia.  
  
She’s the first child, the one on whose shoulders lay most of the family’s expectations for a brilliant future; more than once, when she was still little more than a baby herself, she was forced to watch over his little brother and his friends. She watched them grow up into the young men they are today, although, again, they are still children to her, so she’s a little taken aback when a big, muscly hand envelops hers with confidence and chapped lips plant a small kiss on it.  
  
“ _Please_ , allow me to change that”.  
  
Urouge’s audacity may be unexpected, he used to be the shy, chubby, quiet member of the group, but Boa recovers quickly from it, fixing her eyes on the obscenely tall teenager.  
  
Gone is the baby-fat from his body and face, gone is the ugly mullet on the top of his head, gone are the shiny teeth braces in his mouth. What stands before her now is a handsome, muscular, young man who stares back at her through half-lidded, suggestive eyes.  
  
“Hn”, Boa snorts. “Wouldn’t I like to see you try”.  
  
Apoo erupts in frantic laughter, soon followed by the rest of their usual group, who were approaching and have witnessed the latest exchange back and forth.  
  
However, Urouge doesn’t seem deterred. He remains confident even as his friends make fun of him, cheeks red but only because of the amount of alcohol he has already chugged down.  
  
His eyes don’t leave her, nor does he seem offended by her rejection.  
  
( _Not that Boa thinks he actually meant what he said, of course, that would be just too weird, wouldn’t it_?)   
  
“Long time no see”, Basil chuckles, leaning forward to kiss her on both cheeks.  
  
He used to spend a lot of time at their house when he was little, his parents just two blurry, absent figures in his life. He always looked up to her, sincerely struck by both her beauty and her talent.  
  
“Hello, hello, hello”, drawls a voice she doesn’t know.  
  
A teen with an orange and blue lightning bolt drawn on his face advances, looking at her in a way similar to Urouge’s, but much lewder. The squirming she feels inside is not of the positive kind this time around, making her wish she could turn this red-headed idiot to stone for real.  
  
“What do we have here?”  
  
“Eyes off my sister, Kid”, her brother threatens, placing a not-so-subtle discouraging hand on his shoulder. “ _Onee-san_ , this is Eustass. We’re in the RA together… Eustass”, he pauses, as if about to invite them to shake hands, then, “This is my sister, Boa Hancock. Don’t even _think_ about it”.  
  
It suffices to say that the David Bowie look-alike quickly loses interest once it becomes clear that Drake won’t let anyone close to her, dragging along his blond friend, who hasn’t said a word besides from introducing himself as Killer ( _what a name, uh_?), as he retreats.  
  
Apoo sighs, “Sorry about that. He has no manners whatsoever”.  
  
“Manners? Anything to say on the lack of brain?”  
  
“Easy, now, Urouge”, warns Basil. “You should take it out on Lucci. It’s not the RA’s fault…”  
  
“Do you think this is about the tournament?”, the other snorts. “I couldn’t care less about that _shit_. I just owed Bonney one”.  
  
By this point, Boa zones out, hiding in a world of her own making, where she doesn’t have a schedule or commitments, where she won’t have to work in close contact for two entire months with one the most sexist movie directors in the whole New World.   
  
Now that her workload has reduced significantly ever since the whole seal-debacle, with animal activists everywhere signing petitions to fire her from productions, the actress has been downsized tremendously in the jobs she can afford to refuse.  
  
Boa Hancock knows it’ll be a while before her star regains its shine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST OP CHARACTER (at least imo), NICO ROBIN! 💖 
> 
> I wanted to post this chapter yesterday but I ended up focusing on writing... Nothing too exciting happens, but it paves the way for the final two Halloween chapters (🌝🌝🌝) and, hey, there's a Boa Hancock cameo, too! She was incredibly fun to write, so I don't exclude a couple more small appearances from her, as long as I can find a way for her to be relevant in the plot! She is Drake's sister in here because... No particular reason, I just liked the idea, LOL. 
> 
> Hoping you enjoyed this update, I will talk to you guys in the next! If you have the time, I'm always very happy to hear your thoughts on my story! 😍💘


	23. Pumped Up Kicks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Eustass is a nice person for about five minutes, the Straw-Hats enjoy their time at Drake's Halloween party and their captain finds himself alone with Law again for the first time in two weeks.

He is quite annoyed as he stomps away from the small group, Killer in tow.   
  
There’s no doubt Drake’s beautiful sister would have eventually fallen victim to his undeniable charms, if only her brother hadn’t been there, acting like some sort of guarding dog and shushing Eustass away.   
  
People are having a lot of fun at the party, everyone carries a drink in their hands and thus far no one really seems tempted to leave; the guests blabber, dance, make-out.  
  
Some more and others less, but everyone’s having a great time.  
  
He ought to give it to his teammate. Drake knows how to throw a damn party.  
  
If only he wasn’t such a _cock-blocker_ …   
  
On his side, Killer takes a small plastic bag out of his pocket.  
  
“ _Coffee break with Molly_ ”, he winks, suggestively, dangling the see-through package in front of his face. “Wanna join?”   
  
Eustass eyes the pills, considering his offer.  
  
On the one hand, it wouldn’t be the first time. He has lost count of the stuff his best friend has made him try. Powders, mushrooms, his stepmother’s antidepressants. Popping down the ecstasy and have fun would be easy. _A piece of cake_.  
  
On the other, he doesn’t really feel like it. He has _also_ lost count of the times they have found themselves in trouble and with no recollection of how they ended up there. Surrounded by the people he goes to school with, he is not sure it would be a good idea for both of them to lose track of their actions. It’s best if one maintains an appearance of lucidity.  
  
“Maybe later”, he replies, noncommittally. “I’ll see you when you’re done”.  
  
Killer grunts his assent before making his way to the door, whilst his friend scrutinizes the room around him, looking for a way to keep himself entertained as he waits.  
  
There are a couple of familiar faces scattered around, classmates, people from the only other senior class this year, students from younger years… There’s plenty of exciting opportunities.  
  
He could stroll his way to Drake’s former girlfriend, Monet, who tonight is dressed as Cruella Deville and looks every bit like the famous character, albeit younger, and _hotter_ ; striking up a conversation with her would be quite easy, as she used to have a bit of a crush on him when they were kids (he acted, of course, like an _ass_ and was surprised when she eventually slapped him), but there must be a reason if his _pal_ broke up with her so many times.  
  
She must be one of the _crazy_ ones.  
  
Speaking of those, Lucci and Kalifa from CP9 are on the dancefloor, swaying slowly to the notes of _You Don’t Own Me_ while literally posing as Joker and Harley Quinn. He doesn’t make it a habit to judge other people’s _kinks_ , but even Eustass would call their relationship highly dysfunctional.  
  
Continuing his inspection, he automatically looks past Tashigi, who sports a costume he doesn’t recognize: a red, pleated skirt, an orange sweater, headband and leg-warmers. His classmate has thicker eyeglasses than usual perched up on the bridge of her nose, and it confuses him.  
  
_Aren’t girls supposed to look more attractive on Halloween_?  
  
Next to Tashigi stands Pudding ( _not his type_ ), wearing an immaculate chef-apron and a toque; she has only recently got over her stuttering problem and started mingling with her peers outside of school. She seems to be comforting the other girl, who looks on the verge of tears, and Eustass quickly averts his eyes, least they say _Hello_ to him, and he finds himself tangled up in _that_ mess.  
  
Not far from them, it’s a wasteland of first years and ugly snots.  
  
Deciding he’ll get himself another drink (or several) once he returns inside, he sets his half-empty _Bloody Mary_ on a random piece of furniture, unfazed by the value of the wood and unconcerned whether it’ll get stained or not, and decides to take a look outside, instead.  
  
The night is cold and unforgiving on his skin, and the boy almost backtracks. He is starting to grow weary of the paint smeared over his face, it tickles every fucking time he blinks.  
  
That’s what he gets for trusting Killer to buy the makeup for their costumes.  
  
Eustass picks up the cigarettes from his back pocket ( _Jesus Christ_ , he bought the twenty-pack this morning and it’s almost empty already) and his eyes fall on the pre-rolled joint he was supposed to smoke on his way here, the one he completely forgot about.  
  
It’s the first good thing that happens to him tonight, he muses, but he’ll take it.  
  
The silver lighter with the RA crest clicks lightly as the small flame appears. The weed is a bit old, so the taste isn’t a strong suit of it, but he can feel it work the magic on his body.  
  
He leans with his back on the wall, smartphone in hand.  
  
Kid looks every bit as someone who does _not_ want to be engaged in small talk, or bothered at all, but a blunt voice eventually pipes up on his side.  
  
“ _Uh_ , excuse me?”, she asks. “I’m sorry to bother you but my usual girl keeps bailing on me and I really, really need to smoke tonight… Say, wouldn’t you have five hundred, maybe a thousand belies to sell to a poor girl who wants to stop being sad?”  
  
As Eustass turns around, recognizing the voice and smirking as his brain associates it to a face, the flirty smile withers down and dies on Bonney’s lips, who clad in some sort of nun outfit, but with fishnets and an outrageously short skirt, flips her pink hair over one shoulder and fixes him with an apprehensive glare. She didn’t know it was him she has been just trying to buy drugs from.  
  
“Ah, it’s _you_ …”  
  
Her tone is awfully derogatory, as if he has just killed her cat and then eaten the corpse in front of her, but her expression numb and unfeeling, like she has come to the conclusion than even despising him would waste too many of her energies.   
  
“The one and only…”, he dips his head down in acknowledgement, “You should know by now that Law is your best option to get high”.   
  
“Been there, done that. Trafalgar is sold-out and frankly I’m not sure I want to talk to him tonight”, Bonney replies. “Bepo forced him in a costume and he’s acting like a child”.  
  
It’s perhaps the first time they have some sort understanding, albeit on something as small as a classmate being a _primadonna_ , but it feels nice.  
  
Outside of his close circle, Eustass usually finds it kind of hard not to find himself at the end of someone’s fist or, worse, bored to death.  
  
“To be fair, I’d be mad too if my friends bought a stripper’s costume for me”, he laughs. “Although I’m pretty sure I’d rock it…”  
  
“ _Oh, My, God_. Bepo did what…?”  
  
Her giggles are a pleasing, very feminine sound when she is not glaring daggers at you, he concludes. Kid is not sure he has ever heard her laugh before, but then he immediately scolds himself for the thought; of course he must have, they have been in the same class for five _fucking_ years, but tonight she shares her hilarity with him rather than direct it at him, and it feels somewhat nice.  
  
She seems to read his thoughts, however, because she placates and straightens her spine, eyes cold once again even as he can still see the mirth hiding in their depths.  
  
“Thank you, Eustass”, she says, curtly. “I needed that”.  
  
The pinkette is about to make her way back inside, black veil swaying on top of her head.  
  
The gears in his head turn rapidly: he knows she doesn’t hold him in high regard, so whether she enjoys herself tonight or not is really none of his business, but at the same time he feels the odd impulse to rectify that, because it doesn’t really sit well with him at all that she’d think so lowly of him…  
  
“Wait, Bonney!”  
  
“Eh?”, she turns around, shooting him a questioning look. “…What’s up?”  
  
“ _Here_ ”. He lifts up the half-smoked joint, not unlike a gentleman would hand a bouquet of flowers to their beloved. He snorts at the thought, shoving the filter between her plump lips. “Said you wanted some, right? Help me finish this and I’ll give you what I have left”.  
  
Bonney blinks. “Where’s the catch?”  
  
“No catch”. Eustass rests his back on the wall once again, then lets himself slid down until he’s sitting on the floor. He couldn’t care less about his clothes getting ruined. It’s not like he wears the same thing _twice_ , anyway. “Just keep an open mind, alright?”  
  
“Okay, now I’m scared”.  
  
She occupies the spot next to him, shivering slightly as the bottom part of her body connects with the freezing stone beneath them. Bonney tries every single move in the book to try and prompt her classmate to offer her his jacket, from clenching her teeth to rubbing her hands on her shoulders, but he ignores her completely.  
  
They smoke in companionable silence, one wondering why it’s so hard to find something to break the ice with and the other thinking the red-haired boy isn’t so bad, it seems, when he keeps his damn mouth shut. Eventually, however, the moment approaches its end when only the paper-filter remains, stomped on by Kid’s leather boot, and the girl, who feels a little less hard-hearted towards him, decides to speak up.  
  
(He is helping, isn’t he? She would have never expected him to.)  
  
“What did you want me to keep an open mind about?”  
  
_So, here goes nothing_ – he thinks. The idea sounds good in his mind, but he has a hunch the pinkette won’t appreciate it just as much.  
  
He sighs. “Join the Revolutionary Army”.  
  
Eustass can feel her rage way before he can hear it. Ducking to the side, he avoids Bonney’s fist as it connects with the concrete. She yelps, blood running down her knuckles as it was a particularly sharp spot on the wall that his head was leaning against.  
  
“Are you _fucking_ kidding me?”, she thunders, hastily getting up to her feet. “I didn’t lose against one self-conceited bastard to go play for another”.  
  
“ _With_ another”, he corrects. “I don’t know how you did things in Punk Hazard, but neither Law nor I have the habit to consider our teammates _servants_ like Rob Lucci does. You played well today, only the match was rigged against you before it even started… Now, to be honest with you, Jewerly, I don’t give two _shits_ how that makes you feel. You should have known a single strong player can’t make a victory happen single-handedly, not in this tournament. _Regardless_ , I see your potential, so I’m taking my chances. The RA will win whether you join us or not, but I think I’d regret it if I didn’t take advantage of this rare moment of civility between us to try and recruit you”.  
  
She doesn’t reply immediately, but she doesn’t run away either. Bonney just stands there, still looking incredibly short despite the fact he is sitting on the ground and eyeing him with suspicion.  
  
His words seem to resonate with her, however, because she doesn’t look half as belligerent now.  
  
“I’d like nothing more than to see Lucci go down…”, she admits, her eyes narrowed. “But why shouldn’t I just sit on the sidelines and watch Luffy do that?”  
  
Eustass smirks. “Because one, we all know the Straw-Hats always start with a bang, but they are not _consistent_ … And _two_ ”, he hesitates, standing up as well, red eyes trained on the fresh stain of blood now marring the exterior of Drake’s house.  
  
“Are you really telling me you’d be okay letting a _man_ do the job for you?”  
  
“You do have a point”.  
  
“Is that a yes?”  
  
“I’ll think about it”.  
  
“Alrighty, _teammate_ ”, he chuckles, bringing his arm back and then smashing his closed fist on the wall, leaving his own mark right next to the girl’s. He offers her his bloodied hand and, much to his surprise and, truthfully, her own, she takes it. “Welcome to the winning team”.  
  
“I said I’d think about it”, she chastises. “This means nothing”, she halts, eyeing their joint limbs. “But let’s see if you can help a girl get high, _teammate_. That stuff tasted like _shit_ ”.  
  
“Come with me”, he says, releasing his hold on her hand to drape his arm around her shoulders. “I know a couple of guys, I’m sure we’ll be able to find you something. If not, between me, Killer and Apoo I am sure you’ll be more than baked by the time you get back home”.  
  
“Of course, _Apoo_!”, Bonney cries out. “How come I did not think of that…”  
  
They start making their way back to the door, the music growing louder with every step they take.  
  
It seems the DJ is finally done with his break and behind the mic, but not quite sober, it would appear, as there’s no way to understand what he’s trying to say to the public.   
  
“Move that hand another inch and I’ll personally cut your balls off and shove them down your throat”.  
  
“…”  
  
“Eustass?”  
  
“Mmh?”  
  
“ _Not_. _Happening_ ”.

* * *

Sanji sips from his cocktail, blue eyes trained on his friends as they sway their hips to the track the DJ is playing. It is not exactly his taste, but he has heard much worse.  
  
After all, anything posing as the soundtrack for Nami-swan’s beautiful smile as Chopper makes her twirl around on the dancefloor, now seemingly unbothered by the nature of his costume, can only be _magnificent_. The boy appears to have recovered from the near stroke he got when Bepo approached him earlier and told him about the mishap with his costume and, the cook remembers with a snicker, Trafalgar Law’s.  
  
While he’d never wish such embarrassment on his friend, and even offered to exchange costumes with him (Chopper would probably be a better angel than he is, anyway), he has to admit that the thought of the brooding dark-haired teenager wearing a stripper uniform is very amusing.  
  
The pace of the song picks up, and so do Nami’s dance moves. She looks a bit unsteady on her heels, leaning on her partner for support, but Sanji can’t tell whether it’s about the number of _Caipirinhas_ she downed or the impossible shoes she’s wearing; the heels are lethally high and thin, so sharp they could probably be used as a murder weapon.  
  
Nonetheless, Sanji gulps down the rest of his drink and approaches the two.  
  
“Thank God, Sanji, you’re here!”, Chopper shrills. The younger boy has only had one beer, which he did _not_ like, and it’s getting increasingly harder to keep up with Nami’s seemingly endless supply of energy. “Would you mind filling in for me while I go to the bathroom?”  
  
He shoots a discreet glare at the platinum blond teenager swinging his feet unrhythmically not far from them. The look in Enel’s ice-blue eyes is unmistakable as he subtly nears the girl.  
  
Sanji’s eyes dart back to the brown-haired boy and he offers him a smooth smile.  
  
He nods. “I’ve got this”.  
  
With an abrupt twirl, Nami turns around to face him, staring at Chopper’s retreating back. Then she looks up with a smile so beautiful Sanji is afraid his heart will either melt or combust, maybe both.  
  
“ _Ah_ , Sanji- _kun_! Where have you been all night?”, she chides, throwing both arms around his neck to pull him into a hug. She rests her face on the side of his neck, her cachaça-and-lime flavored breath pattering warmly on his skin. She sighs, “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d start to think you’re avoiding me…”  
  
The orange-haired girl seems seriously disheartened by the idea, but the words don’t sit well with him. He is not the one who refuses to address the giant elephant in the room, or the one who has changed his behavior after telling her how he feels in Mystoria.  
  
She’s the one who asked for some space and then put literal miles between them, as if she has conveniently forgotten the other things he told her that night, how he isn’t going to change, regardless of her resolution, because just thinking of life without Nami makes him want to close his eyes and never open them again.  
  
Sanji returns her hug, albeit stiffly. Her scent is a comforting, pleasant aroma, it’s fruity, redolent of tangerines, and he finds that he would probably have a lot less nightmares at night if only he could put it in a vaporizer and spritz it on his pillow at the end of each day.  
  
“I’m not avoiding you. Just trying to…”, he pauses, not sure how to continue.  
  
He promised her he would wait as she made up her mind, and act like his normal self, but Sanji would be lying if he claimed he never slips, never finds himself staring at her like the love-struck fool he is, never feels the urge to ask her whether she has an answer ready for him or not, because every day that passes without one is slowly but steadily sending him into a downward spiral.  
  
“Just trying to do _what_?”, she urges him.  
  
“Just trying to let you figure it all out without imposing my presence on you, I guess”.  
  
It’s Nami’s turn to be speechless. She opens her mouth, lowers her eyes, then closes it again. There’s a very apologetic look on her face when she glances up once more.  
  
“Your presence is never an imposition, Sanji-kun”, she corrects him. “But I did need some time to sort my thoughts out after our little chat in Mystoria, so, thank you”.  
  
“You’re welcom– _Eh_?”, he halts. “What about now?”   
  
“I think I know what I’m going to do, but I’d rather talk about it somewhere more private…”, she confides, not missing the way his breath itches and his arms fall limply on his side.  
  
The frown on his face is one of defeat mixed with disappointment, but above all else it conveys a sadness she can quite sympathize with.  
  
It’s the same feeling that washed over her every time she has considered turning him down in the past few weeks.  
  
Sanji is quick to put some distance between them, and she can somehow sense the kind of ideas that must be raging in his head right now: they have been friends for years, she knows how the sous-chef thinks, how he tends to overexaggerate, for good or for bad, how utterly allergic to self-love he truly is.  
  
Her hands reach down, guiding his own back to her hips and then settling back on his shoulders. She shows him a rare smile, pecking his cheek. “Let’s talk about it later”, she offers. “I was going to ask you to walk me home after the party, anyway. Now, however, I really want to dance”.  
  
It’s not much, way less than he deserves, but she hopes it’s enough to clarify her intentions; she really isn’t comfortable having this discussion in such a public environment, she doesn’t want the moment she finally gives him a chance to be permanently tainted by ogling schoolmates, or by the stench of the beer keg someone has accidentally dropped on the floor not far from them.  
  
“Whatever your heart desires, Nami-s _w_ an”.  
  
Apoo is playing a slower tune now, a cheesy song someone from the audience has especially requested for their significant one. They swing lazily on their feet as she rests her head on his shoulder, her fingers stroking the white, voluminous angel-wings he sports.  
  
Her eyes are trained on a spot on their left, where a familiar pair sits on a red couch.  
  
Sanji follows her line of sight and he smiles softly at the scene: for all intents and purposes, the green-haired teen is still a caveman who gets under the chef’s skin like no one else does, but he’s one of his best friends, whether the Vinsmoke prince likes it or not, and he looks _happier_ than he has ever seen him; moreover, as much as it pains him to admit it, Robin appears quite happy herself whenever she’s around the swordsman, and the blond is glad that such withdrawn, collected people have finally found someone who can ignite a bit of spark in their lives, give them a reason to look forward to tomorrow, not unlike Nami, unknowingly, always did for him.  
  
Their eyes meet as Zoro takes a sip from the cocktail he has challenged him to order earlier, and Sanji can’t help it but smirk and wiggle his eyebrows, mocking him from a distance.  
  
The silent exchange is soon interrupted, however, because the dark-haired girl pats a sympathetic hand on the boy’s arm, distracting him, and Nami speaks up almost at the same time, snapping Sanji out of his thoughts.  
  
“Do you think we can have that?”  
  
He's not sure what she’s referring to, the fact those two are laughing so hard they might fall from the sofa at any given moment or the subtle adoring looks they throw the other when they think they are distracted, but that’s about the only doubt Sanji has.  
  
“ _Yeah_ ”, he whispers. “We can have that… _And more_ ”. 

* * *

He sits on the red cabriole sofa not far from the dancefloor, where he has just made pretty much the whole school gape and then recoil with jealousy as he followed somewhat gracefully to Robin’s excited and clearly more expert dancing. He has just held her hand and twirled her around, they have laughed and they have hugged at some point, so really they didn’t do anything that would give them away without a doubt, like kissing, but gossip is running wild already.  
  
Zoro can feel people staring at him even now, as they take a break next to one another on the expensive couch.  
  
He’s not sure why they’d be so invested in what’s going on in other people’s lives ( _aren’t they here to party and have a good time?_ ), and for a moment the temptation to sweep her up in his arms and actually give them a proper show to gawk at is strong.  
  
But he doesn’t want these morons to find out before they acknowledge their relationship in front of the rest of the crew, share the news with the people they care about, so he shuts down the voice suggesting he leans in and kisses her now.  
  
Besides, he wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and he’s not sure he’d be okay with it himself, if he was making out and roughly fifty people just stood there and watched.  
  
Knowing his schoolmates, someone would probably snap a picture and post it on social media.   
  
“You don’t have to finish that if you don’t want to, you know?”  
  
Robin looks up at him with doe eyes, tapping her finger on the martini glass he’s holding in his hands, where most of the cocktail the _shitty_ -cook has dared him to drink still sits.  
  
“A deal is a deal”, he sighs, returning her smile with one of his own.  
  
She seems unfazed by the stares and the judgement, like this isn’t the first time that complete strangers feel the need to be so explicit as they dissect her with their collective glare.  
  
“It’ll be worth it when that idiot pays me back… _Corpse Reviver No.2 my ass_ ”.  
  
“What are the stakes?”  
  
“If I can’t finish it, I have to drive him for the rest of the week. The mechanics found a couple of issues with the engine while they changed the tires, so they’re keeping the car until the customized crankshaft they had to order arrives. Serves him well for driving something that should be in a museum…”  
  
“And what if you win?”  
  
“He’s painting the walls of the dojo this weekend like my father asked me to do”.  
  
“ _Oh_ , how _sweet_ of you…”, she coons.  
  
He lets out a humiliated hiccup, taking another sip of the hellish mixture.  
  
“…One would think the two of you aren’t on the best of terms but look at you going out of your way to spend time with him during the weekend, and _alone_ , nonetheless. I think it’s very telling that you picked Cook-san rather than, I don’t know, Luffy, or Nami, or Usopp. Hell, even _me_. Like I said…”, she pauses, teasingly. “…I think it’s very sweet of you, Zoro”.   
  
To say the swordsman would like a hole in the ground to appear and swallow him whole would be a huge understatement, but he still can’t resist the curve of her lips, so he just shows her another lopsided smile as the absinthe in his drink starts working its way through his system.  
  
There isn’t much in it, or so the ero-cook claimed, and he has extremely high tolerance to alcohol, but the yellowish concoction still packs up quite the punch.  
  
“ _Tsk_. Trust me…”, he quips, leaning a bit closer to her. With a painful, bittersweet final effort, the boy empties the glass. “…I’d rather spend my Sunday morning with you, but Kami knows what kind of mess he’d make if I didn’t keep a close eye on him”.  
  
“So, how do you feel? _Revived_?”  
  
Another hiccup, but he manages to smirk his way through it.  
  
“Not really”, he says, smoothly ( _he thinks_ ). “I just feel victorious”.  
  
“What about another round on the dancefloor, then?”, Robin offers.  
  
Their audience seems to have calmed down a little now, although many eyes are still following their every move. He temporarily forgets about these people, though, because all he cares about is how the girl’s blue irises shine under the chandelier.  
  
“ _Alright_ ”, he chuckles, standing up and offering his hand to her.  
  
He normally doesn’t care much for dancing (if that’s what you call what most people do as they grind on each other at parties), nor does he particularly enjoy it, but he finds that he doesn’t really mind it if she’s his partner. She has this odd talent, she can make him appreciate things he normally wouldn’t even acknowledge, or partake in, like reading for the sake of appreciating a story and the characters’ development rather than to get a positive mark or store valuable information.  
  
Zoro sways a little on his feet as she wraps her fingers around his wrist, using his arm as leverage to pull herself up from the cabriole sofa.  
  
She has had a couple of drinks so far, a bit more than she usually does but nothing in her appearance, or the way she moves and talks, would suggest she has had any alcohol today. If anything, Robin seems to be fairing much better than him tonight, which is a surprising _first_ , as she walks gracefully next to him and even supporting a little bit of his weight.  
  
“Mind if we stop by the bar first?”, he asks.  
  
She doesn’t hear him the first time around, as the music and the chatter are too loud, so he tips his head up and repeats the question directly into her ear. He is perhaps standing closer to her than the circumstances (or a simple friendship) would warrant, but the pull he feels towards her is impossible to ignore or shut down; it’s like he’s a honey bee, and his girlfriend is the prettiest, most breath-taking flower he has ever landed on, her nectar so sweet it’s intoxicating…  
  
…wait, what was _that_?   
  
Perhaps he should give the _shitty_ -cook credit where credit is due.  
  
Perhaps he is _drunker_ than he thought.  
  
The fucking _Corpse Reviver No. 2_ has clearly impaired his brain faculties.  
  
He just hopes the effects are only temporary, because there’s no way he’ll ever survive the embarrassment if he ever blurts out such a thought, and especially in front of Robin.  
  
“I don’t, but are you sure you shouldn’t wait a little?”, she questions him. “The drink Sanji gave you looked pretty nasty”.  
  
“Nothing I can’t handle”.   
  
His body seems to refute his words, however, as they resume their walking and he wobbles.  
  
The girl lets go of his hand and wraps her hand tightly around his arm, trying to provide better assistance. His oscillating strut reminds her of nights and bad impressions which she’d rather forget, so, as long as she can, she’s glad to help him keep his dignity intact.  
  
She knows he’d do the same for her.  
  
“Let’s go get you that drink then, _champ_ ”, she jokes.

* * *

Usopp and Kaya are at the bar, slumped in twin barstools as they catch their breath after a rather frenzy session on the dancefloor.  
  
So far, they have had a great day: their crew has advanced to the second round of the school’s tournament, they have spent some quality time with the girl’s parents and even Yasopp showed up, although he couldn’t join them for dinner, and now they are together with their dearest friends, albeit currently missing, at an amazing party, having the time of their lives as pretty much the whole school, or at least anyone with taste, compliments them for their choice of costume.  
  
All and all, they are both pretty satisfied with the turn their night is taking.  
  
“ _Ne_ , babe”, Usopp says, a knowing smirk plastered on his lips as he peruses the room in search of the latest gossip. He is not as obsessed with other people’s lives as Nami is, but he does enjoy keeping up to date, or finding things out before anyone else. “Wouldn’t you say our princess has been acting a little weird lately? Like, weirder than usual”.  
  
The girl scratches a spot on the back of the brown-haired wig she dons to impersonate Marty McFly, which isn’t of the finest quality and _it shows_ , assuming a pensive look before arching an inquisitive eyebrow at him. “No, I don’t think so. She’s just fretting over her grades as usual”.  
  
“Oh, so, would you say it’s normal that she’s kissing Ace in that dark corner over there?”  
  
Kaya rolls her eyes, playfully. “No, Usopp, I wouldn’t say it’s normal that she’s…”  
  
The words die in her mouth as realization hits her.  
  
She turns around frantically, squinting her eyes, but it’s only with great effort that she manages to focus her vision on the pair making out in the shadows.  
  
Mouth agape, she reaches the conclusion that the blue-haired girl dressed in Alabastan traditional clothing and currently pressed against the wall by Luffy’s brother, the toilet paper wrapped around his body unmistakable, can only be her best friend.  
  
_What a surprising turn of events_.  
  
“Vivi and Ace? What the actual _fuck_ ”, she yelps, “I had no idea…”   
  
This is completely out of character of her, she’s the posterchild for judgmental when it comes to teenage romance, the one to usually frown upon public displays of affection not unlike the one she is currently partaking in. And with a notorious playboy?  
  
Well, to be fair, Kaya is sure most of the stories she has heard about the dark-haired boy are fake, because she has met him multiple times and she can tell he is not someone who would deliberately play with people’s feelings, but Vivi tends to trust gossip when it secures her the morally superior stance, so her choice of partner, if for one night she has decided to run wild, strikes her as a bit odd.  
  
“Easy, easy”, Usopp pats her thigh. “There’s more where that came from”.  
  
He points a finger in the opposite direction, where two more of their crewmates are dancing whilst standing very close to one another, closer, as a matter of fact, than any of their friends has ever seen them. Sanji has one hand on the small of Nami’s back, the other holding one of hers and acting as leverage when he twirls her around.  
  
There are similar, ecstatic grins on their faces, and while the moment they are spying on comes as a surprise, it is not unexpected. Those two have gravitated around one another for so long…  
  
“I’d say _finally_ , but it wouldn’t be the first time they make us think they’re finally pulling their heads out of their _asses_ and then don’t”, Kaya observes, eliciting a heartily laugh from her boyfriend.  
  
She tends to use a cruder language than usual when she has had enough drinks, and Usopp just lives for it. It’s also perfect ammunition to use the next time she scolds him about _his_ language.  
  
Looking away from the pair, they are met by yet another display of young love – or so they would instinctively call it, because there’s no way someone could fake the way Robin and Zoro are looking at each other as they approach the bar, as if there’s nobody else in the room.  
  
“I guess some people are slower than others…”, the dark-haired boy chuckles.  
  
After their trip to Mystoria they were almost certain some type of romantic feeling was blossoming between the swordsman and the latest addition to the crew, but seeing as neither of them ever mentioned a word about it, and continued to act as _single_ as they usually did, with no tangible change in their behaviors, both Usopp and Kaya have put the thought aside.  
  
They will talk in their own time, if there even is something to talk about.  
  
Watching them now, however, how tuned they each appear to the other’s movements as they walk past the herds of drunken people, unfazed by the stares they are receiving and finding every opportunity to bestow their touch upon each other…  
  
Well, something is definitely there, and are they even _trying_ to hide it at this point?   
  
Kaya lets out a contented sigh. “They are so cute together”.   
  
She has been hoping for years now that another couple would form inside their group of friends; her money has always been on Nami and the chef, and something tells her was right all along, but as those two take their sweet time to realize they are in love with another ( _honestly, it’s obvious_ ) she can still have the double-dates she has always dreamed of, it would appear, because two other people seem to be quite smitten with one another.  
  
“Cute? Try scary”, Usopp retorts.  
  
With the way he is dressed Zoro really does look as someone who impales vampires on a daily basis, and his companion, although there’s nothing inherently scary in Lara Croft, always make his blood curl with what she deems funny observations, but Usopp really considers offences worthy of the joke-police. That girl is morbid.  
  
“I think they are perfect for each other”, says the blonde. “I’ve never really understood what the whole Tashigi-mess was about, but I’ve never seen him looking as happy before either. As for Robin, I’m astounded by the amount of _crap_ life has thrown at her. She deserves the world, no matter what she says…”  
  
Now within ear-reach, Kaya raises her hand and waves at the pair with a huge smile, inviting them to take a seat on the two empty stools next to them.  
  
“Hey guys”, she greets them, setting the hoverboard-shaped bag to the side so that the dark-haired girl can climb up her seat, the swordsman following closely behind. “It’s nice to finally spot some friendly faces. Do you have any ideas where the others are?”  
  
With others, she means _Luffy_. Kaya knows the whereabouts of pretty much the rest of the crew, although it saddens her a little that nobody else has come their way in a very long time, but not the captain. Whenever they go to a party, he tends to just _disappear_.  
  
“I think the ero-cook is drooling over Nami somewhere on the dancefloor, and Chopper was with her earlier. Franky disappeared with the guy dressed like Freddie Mercury, but they didn’t look too friendly, so I don’t think he’ll be leaving with him…”, the swordsman pauses, startling the couple with his drunken accent they have heard so rarely – never, in Kaya’s case – before. Then he slumps an arm around Robin’s shoulder, as if it’s perfectly normal and something he does all the time, resting his face on the side of hers, whispering, “Am I forgetting someone?”  
  
What’s even more surprising is the ease with which the girl sneaks her own arm around his waist, before saying, “No, I don’t think so. I think I saw Luffy walking up the stairs earlier, but it was just a flash of red fabric, and there’s more superhero capes in here than I can count. His brothers and Koala haven’t been anywhere around us, either”.  
  
“Oh, well, it wouldn’t be a party if Luffy actually spent time with us”, Usopp chuckles, before jabbing his thumb at the unlikely pair making out not far from there. “But here’s one of the brothers...”  
  
“…Is that Vivi?”  
  
“ _OUCH_!” Usopp has a very betrayed look on his face as he stares up at his girlfriend, who has just kicked him in the sheen. “What was that for, babe?”  
  
“For being such a gossip”, Kaya rebukes, sticking out her tongue at him.  
  
“Pfft. _Me_ , a gossip!”, he argues. “It’s not like the whole school isn’t going to know by tomorrow”.  
  
She deflates at that. “I guess you have a point…”  
  
“Do you guys want something?”, asks Zoro, who has managed to get a hold of the bartender’s attention in the meantime. Then he turns in the direction of thirty-something man with short brown hair, and goes, “A _Corpse Reviver No. 2_ ”.  
  
Robin lets out a humorous laugh, then adds, “Let’s make it two”.  
  
Kaya and Usopp exchange a single look. “ _Four_ ”.

* * *

The floor is cold, and so is the white, immaculate wall supporting his back as he sits on the ground, but his body is too numb to feel anything that’s not the rare, unadulterated peace he feels.  
  
His sight is unfocused as he stares up at the ceiling, eyes crossing as they follow invisible patterns.  
  
Law knows he is one of the _weird_ ones, or perhaps just damaged beyond repair: he can’t imagine any of his schoolmates locking themselves up in the service bathroom, as far as technically possible from the actual party, but he is content to be on his own, half-listening to the music reverberating inside the room from behind the closed door.  
  
His head feels lighter than usual, the THC working his way through his system at a leisurely pace, and thinking doesn’t hurt as much as it usually does: here, in Drake’s home, for one night he can just act like the brooding, unfriendly teenager that he is, with no ties or obligations towards his abominable, good-for-nothing uncle; he is just Trafalgar Law, as unimpressive as that sounds to his ears, and that’s _enough_.  
  
A dark chuckle tumbles out of his lips as another drunk person knocks on the door impatiently and storms away in a blur of stomped feet and muttered curses when they receive no reply from the inside. While nothing outwardly suggests the bathroom to be currently occupied, other than the light switched on inside, no one wants to walk in on someone fulfilling their biological needs, and the stratagem has granted him some much appreciated isolation for a good forty minutes now.  
  
With a swift click of his thumb on the spark wheel, his half-smoked blunt is lit up once again, and he inhales deeply, hollowing his cheeks, eyes trained on the rolling-paper as it crackles and burns into non-existence.  
  
He has to give it to Doflamingo. He has some of the best _shit_ in the whole Grand Line City.  
  
The shots Bepo has forced him to toast with earlier surely have helped, but there’s no denying how much stronger these _Joker-buds_ are when compared to the stuff he used to smoke a couple of years ago, when young and inexperienced he was screwed over by his first dealer many times.  
  
The irony isn’t lost on Law.  
  
He started selling just so he could get better value for his money – as a universal truth, the more you buy the less you pay per gram – and now he finds himself trapped in his uncle’s criminal ring.  
  
While he always knew how sketchy the man is, he could have never imagined he would be involved in such schemes, but maybe it’s true what they say of the rich and powerful, that they get _greedy_ and won’t stop in the face of anything to accumulate more wealth and more power.  
  
He shakes his head, pointedly.  
  
He won’t let him spoil tonight, too, not after he let him ruin the last six months of his life already.   
  
Sucking in another puff, he tries to focus on the music Apoo is currently playing on the other side of the mansion, the lyrics going on and on about some girl who doesn’t love the singer back.  
  
He envies the people who have _romance_ as their biggest struggle, even though he’s sure he would find a way to mess things up anyway if he ever found himself in that situation.  
  
_Sex_ , he understands. It feels good, it’s a welcome break in the wasteland of day to day life, a quick fix of healthy affection even someone like him can easily get their hands on.  
  
He is what most people would deem attractive, he supposes, at least on the outside, he has a superior knowledge of human anatomy compared to most people his age, and he’s good at reading people, so finding a partner and making them satisfied, whilst securing a bit of pleasure for himself, was never a problem.  
  
But a relationship?  
  
Not that he ever considered or wanted one, but that requires an amount of work and dedication that seriously baffles him.  
  
Why devote so much of yourself to someone else? What’s there to gain?  
  
_People leave_. When they see what lays beneath the surface, they give up.  
  
Even the people you love the most are bound to disappoint you, so what’s the point?  
  
As much as they care for him and Law treasures them back, even his own father, or Bepo, seem unable to locate the monster in his chest, the one that grows bigger and uglier as each days passes and he has not figured out a long-term solution to his problem.  
  
So why would a near stranger, assuming he’d be willing to pour out his feelings for them and be himself with something other than the nakedness of his body, someone who doesn’t know him for nearly as long, why would they listen, understand, comfort, help Law?  
  
Truth is, they wouldn’t.  
  
They would parade him around, not unlike Basil probably would have done if Law hadn’t seen through him straightaway and demanded they kept their arrangement private, and then they would toss him to the side the moment things got real, and he started to implode.  
  
_Whatever_. It’s all just hypothetical. He doesn’t _need_ no one, he doesn’t _want_ no one.   
  
He is content with just himself, and his old, trusted, carefully selected friends.  
  
He only wishes his uncle would leave him alone, so he could focus on college, building a future, maybe finally try therapy like Rosinante has been pushing him to do for years…  
  
_Liar_ – thunders a voice in his head. Law is quite versed in the art of ignoring it, of shoving down each and every thought and feeling that does not conform to what he expects from himself.   
  
But he’s high now, he can’t erase the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips even as he delves into the dangerous side of his psyche, and that makes him _vulnerable_.  
  
When he finds himself wondering why people are so drawn towards one another, why they waste so much of their time and energy building connections that are so easy to break, which lately he has been doing an awful lot, a round face and a dark mane of spiky hair, black, soul-reading eyes and a genuine, brazen smile often pop up in his mind, reminding him of a white room very similar to the one he is occupying now, of the smell of antiseptic and a soft, yet chaotic kiss that has made him feel alive after months of carrying himself around like a corpse, without a project, or a purpose.  
  
_Monkey D. Luffy_.   
  
Almost two weeks later, he genuinely can’t tell what the hell he was thinking when he kissed him.  
  
Sure, the straw-hatted boy is pretty, and he offers a friendly hand to anyone who crosses his path, making him stand out in every crowd, for good or bad, and he was weak that night, physically and mentally, completely hopeless as he limped his way back to his house, hoping he had enough painkillers to knock himself unconscious until the following morning, but it still doesn’t explain his behavior.  
  
If human comfort is what he had been in need of, then he would have just hugged him back when his schoolmate’s arms wrapped around him, but he didn’t. He had kissed him and hoped he could just disappear into his warmth, and then he had kissed him harder, until his lungs screamed for oxygen and his lips burned because of the friction.  
  
Luffy’s were soft, and he had marveled at how sweet they tasted.  
  
Most nights, when he gets into bed and closes his eyes, he can still feel them moving against his open mouth in gentle, tentative brushes, he can sense the brittle, sleek texture of his scraggly hair under his digits, or the prominent dip on his side where his other hand had rested, and his thumb circled over the protruding bone of his hip.  
  
Blessed with great memory, which is maybe more of a curse at this point, every inch of the boy’s body is burnt into Law’s brain, every gasp and sigh, every breath, every detail has been meticulously stored away by his treacherous mind, and now it’s haunting him.  
  
Avoiding him has helped to an extent, and he has had more serious things to focus on, but the voice never misses the opportunity to nag him when his defenses are down, to point out that there must be a reason if he has never felt this way before, and that he should play his cards quicker and more carefully if he doesn’t want the opportunity of having something good slip away from his fingers like sand.  
  
The voice doesn’t seem to realize that it wouldn’t be as simple, even if Law was willing to admit that the only regret he has is that he wishes their kiss would have lasted longer because there won’t be a second one, which he isn’t; let’s say he tries to pursue the strange feeling he gets whenever his eyes set on Luffy and his smile that’s impossible to resist…  
  
_And then what_?  
  
What could he possibly offer him in return?  
  
Himself? _Ah_.   
  
A croaky, nasal voice suddenly pipes up somewhere in the hallway, humming a tune he hasn’t heard in the longest time as it grows nearer and nearer.   
  
“… _The islands in the south~ are warm~!_ ”  
  
There are goosebumps on his forearm, for some reason. He has very little memory of his time in kindergarten, but the song has the power to turn back the clock, and for a moment he is four years old again, happy and careless and so excited to show his shiny new toy to his best friends…  
  
“… _Paina-purupuru~ Their heads get really hot~ And they’re all idiots~!_ ”  
  
Loud steps stop in front of the door, and Law has to clamp a hand on his mouth not to laugh when the guy knocks on the door.  
  
The singing stops, and he attempts it a second time, but then, rather than turning on his heels and try with another bathroom, he opens the door.

* * *

Luffy stops on the threshold, lips parted in surprise.   
  
“Torao?”, he calls out. “What are you doing here?”  
  
He searches the room frantically, as if looking for something that would justify the sight before his eyes: Law sits on the floor, clad in his dark costume, smoking one of those things Nami sometimes takes out in special occasions (the stuff that makes him laugh) and using the empty red solo cup in his hand as an ash-tray.  
  
He remembers Bepo asking him earlier whether he knew where his best friend was, and himself realizing immediately that no, he did not, because he has searched for him in every face in the room as the party progressed, and always came up empty-handed.  
  
_Until now_.  
  
“What do you think, Straw-Hat- _ya_?”, Law tilts his head to the side, a dark smile on his lips as he takes another puff before dropping the end of his joint inside the cup. It fizzes upon contact with the liquid inside. “I’m enjoying the party…”  
  
Luffy isn’t exactly a fan of sarcasm, but he has been around Nami and Usopp (or Garp) enough to easily pick up on it. The boy in front of him doesn’t strike him like he is having fun, but it makes no sense.  
  
The Revolutionary Army played an excellent game earlier today, moved almost directly to the second round, so why isn’t Law out there, celebrating with his teammates?  
  
( _And why isn’t he_?)  
  
The pirate plops himself down next to him with a chuckle.  
  
“It’s a party if you’re alone?”  
  
Law smirks. “It’s a party if I am not?”  
  
Luffy tries not to let the rebuttal compromise his positive attitude. He has no idea what’s happening in the other boy’s life, but he remembers in what condition he has found him crawling back home two weeks before. Not everyone is as direct about their business like he is, or Ace; he suspects Torao is a bit more like Sabo, or Zoro and Nami, less eager to show their true feelings.  
  
“Do you feel… Are you– I mean…”  
  
“I’m fine”. Law sits the cup down, and brings a hand to his side, tapping a tattooed finger on the biggest injury he got during his most recent meeting with Diamante. “This one still hurts like hell, but other than that, I am fine”.  
  
Luffy weighs the other’s words in his mind. His face is now healed, and so seems to be his arm, but he still walks a bit funnily, making a lot of pauses in between steps.  
  
“Mmh”.  
  
He is not too satisfied, but he is not disappointed either.  
  
At least he doesn’t look as he did on the street that night.   
  
Knowing he needs to be one keeping the conversation alive, or else it’ll just die, he struggles to find something appropriate to say, before settling on, “You guys were pretty good today…”  
  
“I didn’t do anything, though”.  
  
Law doesn’t sound too happy about that.  
  
“Well, no offense, but as good at sports as you are, I never thought your contribution to the tournament would manifest in the physical tasks”.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
Luffy shrugs. “You’re one of the smartest people I know and, trust me, some of my friends are borderline genius. You were the brains, and I was the punch”.  
  
“…And look where that got us, Straw-Hat-ya”, Law chuckles, but there’s no mirth in the low sound his throat produces.  
  
“My name’s Luffy…”  
  
“I know, _idiot_. But you were so obsessed with that hat, so I thought… Ugh, nevermind”.  
  
An impetuous flow of questions swirls in his brain.  
  
For once, it seems they are on the same page. It's the first time in over a decade.  
  
Primarily, he wants to know _why_.  
  
But he knows that that’s a conversation that would take an amount of time he is afraid they don’t have. Besides, Law doesn’t look sober enough.  
  
So, he goes for, “Was it worth it?”  
  
_…closing the door on me, leaving me behind, bail out on me so you could be friends with him…  
  
_It's been a long time since Luffy has been sad about it. The only thing he ever cared about, even as he lost the first comrade he ever had to someone who didn’t deserve his friendship, was that Law had been happy with his trade, that he never regretted his choice.  
  
He has vague memories of the circumstances that led to the end of their friendship, but even if the other betrayed him then, the only thing that always really stung was the way he had turned his back on him and never looked back.  
  
They were so young…  
  
Luffy would have forgiven him in a heartbeat. But he never asked.  
  
“No”, Law admits, his voice so low it is barely audible. “It was not worth it, Luffy-ya”.  
  
He takes off his blue hat and runs a hand through his dark hair. Rebel strands frame his face very prettily, in great contrast with his yellow, penetrating eyes, and Luffy is not sure another human has ever looked so much better than _meat_ before.  
  
Trafalgar Law is _beautiful_.  
  
He is studying his face, as if he’s looking for the answer to a mystery in it, and it makes the Straw-Hats’ captain a bit self-conscious, so he starts doing the same. He palms both sides of his face and takes a mental note of each freckle and pore, analyzes the length of his eyelashes, and the depth of his cheekbones. He has grown up so much since then, and at the same time he still looks like the same person he used to be so fond of (in his memories, still is).  
  
Now and then, it’s about the way he smiles. It ignites a special sparkle in his heart.  
  
Law refuses to look at him, a light blush spreading on his cheeks, but the corners of his mouth are curled up, perhaps against his will, and Luffy finds that he could look at him for literal hours.  
  
They used to have so much fun together…  
  
…And yet, Luffy knows that things are somewhat different now.  
  
He still wants his time and attention now as he did then, but the craving he feels now is unprecedented, deeper and, truthfully, a bit scary, too.  
  
But great pleasures are the product of great risks, and the prudent man is not rewarded.  
  
He tilts his head on the side, with a thoughtful expression.  
  
“And what are you going to do about it?”  
  
Law’s eyes widen in surprise, smile deepening. He is impossibly pretty as he stares back at him, and Luffy can’t help but return the other’s grin with his much wider one.  
  
His dark eyes fall on his lips, unable to resist the temptation. They are plump and rosy, and he remembers them as both smooth like silk and more intoxicating than wine.  
  
When he realizes what he’s doing, Luffy looks up in alarm, gauging the other’s reaction, but Law looks only mildly amused, and pensive. He can practically hear the gears turning in his mind.  
  
Then he fists the collar of Luffy’s red tunic and covers the remaining distance between them.  
  
Whispering the worlds directly on his lips, Law chuckles, “ _Shut up_ ”.  
  
His kiss is tender, yet raw, as if two opposite tendencies are fighting simultaneously to control his mouth; his lips glide over Luffy’s like they were modeled specifically for that purpose, and even though he can’t see him, because his eyes have shut down instinctively, he can tell Law is still smirking.  
  
He nibbles at his lower lip, as if carefully removing pralines from the topping of a cake, and then a wet, smooth tongue is thrusted inside his mouth, looking for his own, imposing and somehow accommodating. Luffy has a better idea what to expect today, and it’s not long before he starts following his movements with tentative strokes.  
  
Law digs his fingers in his hair, digits rubbing small circles on his scalp, while his other hand lets go of the fabric and reaches up, cupping his chin to hold him in place as he tilts his head further on the right, deepening the kiss.  
  
A low, guttural sound escapes from him from time to time, and it’s one of the best things Luffy has ever heard. He can’t believe how nice this feels, and in his excitement he calculates his own strength poorly, flattening the other on the floor as he throws his arms around his neck.  
  
When Law’s arms lock behind his back, and a hug is incorporated into the kiss, he wishes the moment would never end. He has always felt so much instinctual affection towards him, it’s overwhelming to see that returned, if only for one night.  
  
Eventually, they have to pull away to catch their breaths, but Luffy still doesn’t let go of him, and refuses to look away, then, as soon as his lungs are filled with air, he nudges Law’s nose with his, licks his lips and says, with crystalline voice, “Do it again”.  
  
(They’ll stop only when Boa Hancock stumbles upon them one hour later.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my notes, check the end of the next chapter.  
> That's right, it's double-update time! 🥰


	24. Head & Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which... to be honest, most of this is SMUT. 👀 
> 
> (If you want to skip it, stop reading around "Zoro doesn't believe in many things" and resume at "She keeps her eyes closed" - aka the last sequence.)

It’s cold outside, the early November air coated in humidity. There isn’t much of a breeze, more like a small, brisk whiff of wind that from time to time would seep into one’s bones through the outer edge of clothing. Dark-grey, thick and heavy clouds forecast the outbreak of a storm, but the whole universe could rain on Zoro right now, and he still wouldn’t care.  
  
Fingers woven around Robin’s, the two walk very closely to one another, equally precarious on their feet. If the second _Corpse Reviver_ wasn’t enough, the many glasses which found their way into his hands after that have shattered the last of his control; the switch from absinthe to less powerful alcohol hasn’t helped, either, and he is grateful he has stopped drinking when he did, for he has threaded very close to his limit tonight, and almost surpassed it.   
  
On his left, an untamed, dreamlike grin stretched across her lips, his girlfriend is not faring much better than him. She may have more experience in this department than most people her age do ( _or should have_ ), ever graceful in the way she hits the bottle, but she is still human, and her body responds to chemicals the same way anybody else’s does, so she has long since stopped pretending she is sober.  
  
So they just hold hands and walk in what they deem to be a straight line (it’s not), slower than normal, laughing at random shapes on the sidewalk, or the music reverberating outside what little vehicles are speeding down the road at this hour of the night.  
  
If anything, X Drake knows how to throw a party. Even someone like him, who prefers quieter environments and to be surrounded by fewer people, has had a lot of fun.  
  
Robin wraps her free hand around his forearm and tugs aT it when he’s about to turn left, then tilts her head on the opposite direction with an amused chuckle. “My apartment is that way”.  
  
_Oh, right_. The green-haired swordsman is so blissfully content just being in her presence, his hand slightly sweaty (he hopes she doesn’t notice) as it clasps hers, he has almost forgotten why they are walking down the empty street. As any sensible boyfriend (or friend, really) would do, he has, of course, offered to escort her home when the Straw-Hats as a group, or at least those members of the crew who hadn’t disappeared on their own by then, decided to call it a night.  
  
What he wasn’t expecting, and still can’t wrap his head around, was the girl leaning into his chest and inviting him to spend the night at her place.  
  
Twenty minutes later, he is not sure what she meant. Maybe she was just offering him his couch, but why the suggestive tone, or the coy glance through half-lidded eyes?   
  
They cross the road, proceeding further in the direction Robin has just indicated. The silence is not unpleasant, although Zoro would rather listen to her laugh than deal with his rampaging thoughts.  
  
He can’t say he never thinks about it, as he falls asleep or in the shower, because that would be a gross and blatant lie, but he doesn’t like to dwell on such thoughts too much either. Of course, he has wondered how it would feel to be with her in a _certain_ way, but it was always a blurry, distant possibility, and now that his brain dares considering it something that might actually happen in a not so distant future, he really doesn’t know what to do with the images his head conjures up.  
  
It’s the first time he is too drunk to fight them.  
  
Eventually, Robin notices his distraction, which then turns undeniable as he almost crashes headfirst into the light pole. She stops him by pulling him to her side, but in doing so she almost trips on his feet, and it’s only the hand he closes around the pole that allows him to support their weights and keep them both standing.  
  
“ _Careful_ ”, he teases.  
  
One arm now wrapped around her, it’s only when he lets his palm rest on her shoulder that he notices how frosty her skin feels to the touch.  
  
“ _Jeez_ , you’re freezing”, Zoro relinquishes his old on the streetlight, straightening himself up, and brings his other arm around, drawing big, slow circles on her back.  
  
He hugs her closer, trying to cover as much of her exposed back and arms as he can, but her costume doesn’t entail much clothing, just a tank-top, boots and a pair of shorts, so as lovely as she looks, it’s not very surprising that she’s struggling to adapt to the sensible drop in temperature.   
  
“I’m fine”, Robin rolls her eyes, playfully, but snuggles deeper into his arms, fisting the warm velvet of the crimson waistcoat Perona was so adamant would “ _complete his look_ ”. He pecks her cheek, erupting in a low chuckle when she nuzzles his neck with the icy tip of her nose, asking for another. He can’t help it but indulge her.  
  
She pulls back, adding, “If anything, I am more tired than I am cold”. Her whole face scrunches up as she tries to stifle down a yawn (failing miserably). Truthfully, it is quite the _adorable_ sight.  
  
“How far are we from your home?”  
  
Robin chuckles. “But I thought you were perfectly aware of our whereabouts?”  
  
The remark digs at his pride, but he sees no point keeping up the pretense that he has an idea where they currently are, or which direction they are headed. All the roads look the same, and any road is fine in his opinion, as long as he gets to walk it with the girl in front of him.  
  
Peeling off his coat, and finding it less thick than he was hoping, he drapes it around her shoulders, smirking as she seems torn between gratefulness, for her goosebumps have goosebumps now that they are no longer moving, and not wanting to deprive him of the comfort.  
  
She shakes her head, trying to return him the piece of clothing, but Zoro waves her off, buttoning it all the way up for her once she slides her arms inside the sleeves.  
  
“Don’t worry about me, I am not cold”.  
  
If anything, the sudden chill is refreshing. It even sobers him up a little.  
  
They resume their trek to Robin’s home, but it’s not long before they stop again, as the swordsman notices that her steps have slowed down, or the way she sometimes flinches when her feet connect with the sidewalk at a certain angle.  
  
Wordlessly, he kneels slightly, inviting her to climb on his back.  
  
Once her legs are crossed around his waist, fingers wrapped around her mid-thighs, they finally start moving at an acceptable speed again. “New shoes, uh?”  
  
“My feet were killing me”, she sighs, contentedly.  
  
With both arms circling his neck and her head perched on top of his shoulder, which gives her a great view over the pretty blush on his cheeks, she is enjoying herself immensely. Normally, she wouldn’t let herself be carried around like deadweight, but she feels very light-headed, and her boots have seemingly torn through the delicate skin of her ankles, making each step a nightmare.  
  
“Thank you, Zoro”.  
  
She feels more than hears the laugh vibrating through his chest. “You’re welcome”.  
  
“We need to turn left now”.  
  
“ _Uh-uh_ ”.  
  
"..."  
  
"..."  
  
“Zoro?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“I said left”.

* * *

The uncoated swing chain screeches as Nami rocks back and forth, kicking back her legs to gain more momentum as her orange hair flips wildly behind her head. On the seat next to hers, feet still stubbornly attached to the ground, Sanji looks up at her in reverie.  
  
Not finding the courage to turn her down when she demanded they stop at the small kids’ playground not too far from her house, a place they used to frequent a lot in their younger years, he doesn’t regret the choice one bit: whatever happens tonight – she said they would talk, but she hasn’t spoken a single word _yet_ – whether he gets his heart broken or brought back to life, the scenery around them is perfect.  
  
Perhaps he will regret it, but he feels rather optimistic. They have spent pretty much the whole night together, being more affectionate towards the other than ever before, and she sounded about as promising as a preacher talking about the god they serve when telling him that she has finally made up her mind, so nothing really suggests she is about to turn him down, although, if that turns out to be the case, he is ready to take the hit like a gentleman would.  
  
An unlit cigarette rests between his lips and he starts searching his pockets for his lighter, but with no luck. More than the idea of not being allowed to smoke, what makes him scowl is the fact it is a gift from the _old-jeezer_ , and currently one of his most prized possessions.  
  
A flash of silver forces him to narrow his eyes at Nami’s left hand, where the lighter shines under the moonlight. “Looking for this, Sanji-kun?”  
  
“ _Eh_? When?”  
  
“After you lit up the last one as we entered the park”, she supplies. She stops swinging her legs, and soon enough she starts slowing down, until it’s safe for her to drag her feet over the sand pooled beneath the swing-seats and stop the motion altogether. “There’s a reason people called me the _cat burglar_ in kindergarten”.   
  
“Any particular reason you don’t want me to smoke, then?”  
  
“ _Maybe_ ”.  
  
Standing up requires a bit more effort than she has anticipated, as her fluffy red wings get stuck in the chains. Eventually, she decides to just unhook the two stripes on her shoulders, watching them fall to the ground with an unimpressed glare. Her heels make her a bit clumsy on the sand, but to Sanji she still looks like an angel of death while she approaches him.  
  
Placing her hands over his on the chain, she leans forward and stares right at him with her bright hazelnut eyes.  
  
“I think there’s something we need to talk about, isn’t there?”

* * *

Now that it’s time to be honest with him, Nami finds herself struggling to come up with the right words.  
  
After making him wait for so long, it’s hard to pick up the courage and give him an answer.  
  
Hiding the lighter in her plunging neckline, she plops herself down on his lap, feeling his whole body stiffen at the contact as her arms reach up and curl around his neck. She rests her head on Sanji’s collarbone, inhaling deliberately a deep whiff of his wintergreen-scented cologne.  
  
His golden locks shine eerily under the moonlight, cascading down his forehead and hiding his right eye. He is very particular about his hair, and doesn’t normally appreciate it when people touch it, but she supposes she is the exception to the rule, because he practically _purrs_ when she runs a hand over the back of his head, testing its silky texture between her digits.  
  
Looking up at him, Nami lets out a sigh, bracing herself for a speech she hasn’t rehearsed.  
  
Every single time she thinks about it, her answer changes, and so does her tone, or her wording, but the feeling is always the same.  
  
She wants to do this.  
  
_She wants to be with Sanji_.  
  
Now she only has to see if Sanji still wants to be with her, if he truly meant it when he said he loves her, if he hasn’t changed his mind in the two weeks she left him hanging.  
  
“I’ve thought about it a lot, Sanji-kun”, she starts, not sure where to begin. The serious look on his face in unfamiliar, but the emotional investment he seems to have in this conversation is heart-warming, encouraging her to continue. “Like I told you two weeks ago, it’s not like I never entertained the thought. _You and I_ , I mean. But the idea always came pre-packaged with an endless list of reasons why this wouldn’t work, so I always pushed the thought aside. When you asked me to consider a relationship between us, I quite frankly wasn’t expecting it…”  
  
If possible, he stills even more.  
  
He breathes slowly, carefully, and just keeps his blue eyes trained on hers, with an affection so deep written all over his face, it makes her heart hiccup and skip a beat.  
  
( _She hiccups too, damn vodka_ ).  
  
“Now, those issues that I have mentioned, they are obviously still there…”, Nami continues, flinching when he shows her a look of utter defeat. Eyes low, jaw clenched, a bit of a pout on his lips… He is picking up the opposite of what she is trying to convey, and she both hates and loves the reaction it spurs within him.  
  
( _Goddammit, isn’t this supposed to be a nice moment_?)  
  
“…But I think we can work our way through them, if we promise right now that we’ll always be honest to each other”. With a soft smile, she offers him her raised pinky, watching amusedly as he digests her words, and realization dawns on him that she is not rejecting him as he probably convinced himself that she would. She knows this boy, knows that he always feels as if he is not _enough_ , no matter the circumstances, although she has always wondered where that steams from. “What do you say, Sanji-kun?”  
  
The speed with which he wraps his own finger around hers is astonishing, but it’s the grin on his face that truly takes her breath away. She is not sure she has ever seen him looking this happy before, and to be the one who caused it, well, it sends a shiver of liquid pleasure down her spine.  
  
He is _so pretty_ when he smiles like this.  
  
All the muscles of her body brace themselves for what she is about to do next, and her lips tingle with anticipation as she tries to predict what his might taste like, if they are as soft as they look.  
  
Eyes half closed, a mere couple of inches separate their faces when the sky roars, and the deep cry of thunder is followed by a sound not unlike that of a curtain being drawn too quickly as rain starts pouring down mercilessly on the pair.  
  
The shock lasts less than ten seconds, however, because Sanji adjusts her on his lap and stands up, then runs for the wooden shackle sitting on top of the slide, climbing up the kid-sized stairs and setting her down once he is sure they are properly sheltered from the rain.  
  
(He mumbles something about not wanting her to catch a cold.)  
  
Her hair is damp, and so are her shoulders and arms, but at least her dress is not soaked and, since Sanji carried her bridal style all the way here, her red vinyl boots are not stained with mud.  
  
His white jacket is doing a bit worse than her clothes, as he used his chest to shield her, but, overall, he has managed to get them both out of the rain before it was too late.  
  
Rainstorms like this one aren’t all that common in Grand Line City, not in this period of the year, and they are both a bit miffed by the sky’s timing.  
  
She was just about to kiss him…  
  
Sanji places both hands on her waist, and whilst she can barely see his face, cloaked in the shadows as he currently is, the smile he shows her is one she will probably never forget.   
  
“Nami, I…”   
  
“ _Shhh_ ”. Whatever he was about to say just now, it’s cut off by her lips crashing down on his.  
  
Her brain shuts down, excitement running wildly all over her body as her arms lock behind his neck and she grabs a fistful of his blond hair. She remains still for a moment, giving Sanji some time to process the gesture and elaborate his response.  
  
Either one of two things can happen now: either he pushes her away, or he returns her kiss.  
  
She doesn’t find the former option very likely to happen, but the doubt insinuates deeper within her as each second ticks by in which the boy doesn’t move.  
  
Then the grip on her sides tightens, and his eyelids flutter shut as he suddenly kisses her back, serenading her with his mouth; his lips are thin, and a little cold, as they glide smoothly over Nami’s, kind and yet demanding. She has been half-expecting him to taste like his beloved cigarettes, but only a tiny hint of the alcohol he consumed tonight is distinguishable in his breath.  
  
He feels otherwise fresh, and a bit sweet, and Nami only needs one sample to become addicted.  
  
Pushing herself closer to him, she slowly opens her mouth and draws her tongue out, and she licks his lips expectantly, humming in amusement as they immediately part for her. His tongue meets hers halfway in a slippery dance, and Sanji hugs her even more tightly, cupping her chin and tilting her head slightly to the side.  
  
The kiss slows down as his breathing grows more fatigued, and eventually he pulls away, blue eyes instinctively searching for hers.  
  
Speechless, Nami stares back at him and, as soon as her lungs are filled up with oxygen once more, throws herself back in his arms.  
  
He murders her laughter with eager lips, but it’s a happy death.   
  
(That smile? _So pretty_.) 

* * *

The key unlocks the entrance of Robin’s apartment in a swift _click_.  
  
Zoro returns it to her, carries her inside and sets her down, switching on the lights and closing the door behind them.  
  
It started raining less than ten minutes ago, and by the time they turned the last corner, and the building came into sight, the two were already drenched.  
  
Water pools at their feet, dripping from their hair and clothes. Instructing him to take off his shoes, the girl gets rid of the belts stripped to her thighs, and her fake weapons, finally removing her boots and wiggling her toes out of the painful constriction of her socks.  
  
Then she removes the coat she has borrowed from him and hangs it on the wall, heading for the kitchen cabinet and retrieving two glasses she then fills with water.  
  
The first one disappears very quickly as the liquid cools down their sore throats, and a second one follows straight after.  
  
If the storm has sobered them up a little with its shock-therapy, she can’t say she is no longer drunk, either. She has a better perception of her surroundings, but she still feels a bit fuzzy-headed.  
  
Leading Zoro to her bedroom, she scraps the bottom of her wardrobe to put together a change of clothing suitable for a boy of his height, namely an old pair of baggy sports shorts which will probably fit him more snugly than intended and a t-shirt he left here during a previous visit, as well as a pajama for herself. While she unbraids her hair, she sends him into the adjacent bathroom with the clothes and a fresh towel, and once the raven-haired strands are free from their constriction, cascading behind her back, Robin proceeds to remove the blunt of her makeup, not really in the state of mind necessary to care about things like her skincare routine.  
  
She is debating whether she should walk to the other bathroom in the house, the one nested near the entrance, when the door opens again, and Zoro walks past it, toweling his hair.  
  
Predictably, what for her is comfortable clothing looks barely decent on his much bigger frame, but at least he is dry now. As she watches him fidget with the waistband, which is tighter than he’d like, she can’t hold back her chuckle. “I’m sorry, I really tried my best”, she apologizes. “I hope it’s at least more comfortable than leather pants?”  
  
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine”, he fires back, “You should probably take those off, though, if you don’t want to catch a…”  
  
Zoro stops, clamping his mouth shut, a deep, violent blush creeping up his cheeks as he realizes what he just said. He didn’t mean to sound like a _pig_ , but there’s a whole sea of great intentions between good and bad, and he hopes she doesn’t misunderstand him.  
  
On her part, the dark-haired girl knows exactly what he meant, but she’s also aware of his current torment, and she can’t help it but toy with it a little.  
  
“My, Mr. Swordsman”, she coons. “I wasn’t expecting you to ask so directly…”  
  
Robin looks down, seemingly inspecting her clothing, then back up at him with a cheeky smile.  
  
His face flares up even more, so she takes a step in his direction and leans forward, musing, “I wonder what I should start from…”  
  
Her own game turns against her, however, because the heated look he shows her now, as if he can picture the fabric being peeled off her body, makes her a bit nervous, and self-conscious, and at the same time compels her to tease him more.  
  
The boy inhales deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know what I meant”.  
  
She can tell he is flustered, she knows what little telltale lines to search for in his face. His unfocused glance drifts in every direction, but he refuses to look her in the eyes, as if ashamed of his own thoughts; he also can’t keep his hands still, playing with the hem of the comforter placed on her bed as he sits down on the mattress.  
  
Tiny speckles of the makeup his sister put on his face are still dotting his cheekbones (he probably tried to remove it with just water, _bad move_ ), and she laughs heartily at the sight.  
  
Glitter looks very pretty on him.  
  
Unable to stop herself, she covers the remaining distance between them and plants a loud kiss on his cheek, winking, “…But what did _I_ mean?”  
  
Robin bolts then, disappearing inside the bathroom with her pajama, her chuckle still audible from behind the now closed door. She does _love_ messing with him. 

* * *

When she first offers to help him remove the crusty eyeshadow from his face, Zoro is happy to accept her offer; the powders Perona put on his face have been itching for hours now, and his skin is quite relieved when the girl pours a bit of clear liquid on a small cotton pad and starts wiping it gently, cupping his chin with her free hand and narrowing her eyes at the small particles of glitter.  
  
Robin sits next to him at the end of the bed, her long legs crossed and the bridge of her foot brushing lightly against his naked calf. She has changed into a pair of grey yoga pants and a light-pink shirt with long sleeves whose first few buttons are undone; dark hair up in a ponytail, she nibbles her lower lip in deep concentration, presenting him with such a sweet and lovely sight, he can’t help but feel quite inadequate, like he is some sort of _brute_ and it’s a random string of luck which has brought him here today, a fluke, because there’s no way in hell someone like her would find _him_ , of all people, interesting…  
  
Only the smile on her lips, in his modest opinion, is just as real as the warmth of her fingertips on his face, it’s too dazzling and breath-taking to be fake.  
  
He sneaks another subtle glance in her direction, as the gentle curve of her lips may make him nervous, unbearably so, but it’s also quite addicting, only this time, as he looks sideways at her through half-lidded eyes, her face is much closer than before, and it makes him gasp for air.  
  
She seems to have noticed his temporary turmoil, because with a final swab of the cotton pad she lets go of his chin, stroking his cheek gently with one finger.  
  
Her smile softens. “Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”  
  
To be honest, he had all but forgotten how much he drank until now. The only reminder is the burning tingle at the pit of his stomach, but that probably won’t be a problem until at least tomorrow morning. “No, nothing’s wrong”, he reassures her. “I am fine. Just thinking…”  
  
“Nice thoughts, I hope”.  
  
She sounds so expectant, he can’t help it but return her smile with one of his own.  
  
“It doesn’t really matter. I’m having nice thoughts now”, Zoro replies, tapping his index finger on her nose and laughing at the childish look of outrage on her face.  
  
The girl mutters something about _retaliation_ , then reaches up to tickle his sides, but he spots the flash of pink fabric in the corner of his eye and manages to block her wrists before she can shred the rest of his dignity. His ribcage is very sensitive to touch, especially that of wriggly fingers.  
  
“Easy there”, he chuckles. “You know that doesn’t bode well for you…”  
  
“You’re laughing, though. _Mission accomplished_ ”.  
  
Flipping her hair over her shoulders, dark bangs bouncing over her forehead, she doesn’t seem worried about the _retaliation_ he will be dealing any second from now, and it sparks something very warm at the back of his throat, making his voice thick, to see how much Robin, for some reason, concerns herself with his well-being.  
  
“Alright…”  
  
Using his hold on her wrists to fling her to the side, she doesn’t protest as he sits on her legs, albeit careful not to weigh too much on her, and dishes out the treatment he was just about to receive. Her laughter is instant as his fingertips connect to her waist, and it has a very nice ring to it, so much so that he persists even as she raises her arms in defeat.  
  
“God, Zoro, _ahahahah_ … _Please_ – _Ahahahah_ ”, her breathing is very disconnected, so he slows down the tickling motion a tiny bit, but doesn’t end it. “ _I. Am. Sorry_ ”.   
  
“ _Uh_ , what was that?”, the boy smirks, and he continues until she’s convulsing with laughter again. “I didn’t hear you”.  
  
“I said I’m sorry”, she mumbles, looking decidedly not pleased with the way her little ploy has turned against her. Once the tickling finally stops, she takes a deep breath before staring up at him, the melted blue of her irises shining prettily under the artificial light.  
  
Another chuckle escapes her mouth, low and featherlike, so when she drapes one hand around his neck, beckoning him closer, he doesn’t fight his body when his eyelids droop instinctively, and he lets out a small sigh of happiness, meeting her lips eagerly with his own.  
  
Kissing Robin always feels new and exciting, even though it’s been over a month since their first date and he should be used by now to the softness of her face, or how great she smells from up close. He has memorized the curve of her mouth, the appropriate amount of pression his teeth should put on her lower lip to elicit the quiet little moan he likes so much, but each time she pulls away and holds his gaze, smiling her softest smile, he finds himself a bit more wrapped around her little finger (if this was about the _ero-cook_ , then the term Zoro would use is _whipped_ ), and none the wiser as to how to keep his wits to himself the next time it happens _._  
  
As the girls pull him closer and closer until he is flattened on top of her, settling somewhat comfortably between her legs, his right hand marvels upon making contact with the bare, warm skin of her abdomen as he sneaks it past the hem of her pink shirt, fingers digging into her hip as Robin graces him with a particularly skilled stroke of her tongue.   
  
If only he wasn’t enjoying himself so much, it would perhaps occur to him that it’s a bit scary how, when it comes from her, just a simple touch has the ability to turn him to putty.  
  
But his girlfriend has both hands on him right now, one threaded through his hair and the other running over his back, where her nails trace invisible and yet pointy lines, so his mental faculties have been momentarily downgraded, if not downright suspended. All he can think of, as cheesy and desperate as he thinks it sounds, is how great he feels when she holds him like this.   
  
Curling her legs around his, Robin pushes and pushes until their positions are reversed, with Zoro laying down with his back on the mattress, and herself perched on top of him. She hasn’t broken off the kiss, yanking at the green strands more urgently and shifting her hips until she settles for a spot that comes with quite a bit of _friction_ , and he can’t stop his undignified groan.  
  
His arms close more tightly around her and a calloused digit traces the entire length of her spine, his other hand resting on her side because he knows there’s only a certain amount of _stimuli_ he can take all at once before his brain books a one-way ticket for the North Blue.  
  
When her mouth slows down and soon enough she pulls away with a final, luscious peck on his lips, he summons the risible amount of self-control he has still left and stops her when she leans in to kiss him again, sitting up on the bed and blushing under her questioning glance.  
  
With a tighter squeeze of his arms around her, Zoro hides his face in the crook of her neck, tucking a strand of raven hair behind her ear before whispering, “Robin… What are we doing?”

* * *

She takes a long moment to think about her answer. Zoro’s sounds like such a simple question, but she can sense the odd tension in his shoulders, or the ragged breath infringing on her neck.  
  
He seems on edge, nervous, she can tell by the slight tremor of his fingers as he keeps his hold on the small of her back.  
  
Robin doesn’t know what kind of thoughts are raging through his mind, but the last thing she wants is to make him uncomfortable.  
  
She’d lie if she said she hasn’t thought about having sex when she invited him here tonight, but that does not mean she _expects_ it.  
  
Every time that particular scenario plays in her mind, he is into it just as much as she is, so if for whatever reason he does not feel like taking that additional step now, or in the near future, then she just hopes she hasn’t unwittingly pushed his boundaries too much already.  
  
Mirroring him, she tilts her head up so that her mouth is aligned to his left ear, where his earrings tingle slightly as they crash into one another because of her sudden movement.  
  
“Everything we want to do”, she whispers back. “And _nothing_ we don’t want to”.  
  
Robin feels him relaxing in her arms, but he keeps his face stubbornly hidden and says nothing in return, as if pondering her words with great care. The doubt grows heavier as each second passes during which the boy doesn’t emit a single sound, so she hurries to add, “I invited you to stay here tonight just because I wanted to spend more time with you, and I had a great time. But I don’t expect you nor do I want you to sleep with me, or _sleep_ with me, if you don’t feel like it. I’ll just set up the bed in the other…”  
  
But she can’t finish the sentence, and tell him about the piece of furniture she recently bought after Nami turned dinner at her house into a pajama party for the umpteenth time, because Zoro suddenly pulls away, looking quite dumbfounded, and manages only a shrieked, “Wait, _what_?”  
  
Then, he starts laughing, a deep, roaring sound that makes his entire body shake, and he would probably fall from the bed if her weight wasn’t keeping him in place. He lets his back fall on the mattress once more, clutching at his sides, and Robin is not sure what has triggered such a reaction, but she wishes she could it all over again, multiple times, for his raw, loud guffaw may have just become her favorite song in the world.  
  
Now it’s her time to be confused, though, as the knot of nervousness that was holding him down seemingly melts away. Her eyebrows dip low as she narrows her eyes at him, the expression on her face clearly demanding that he shares the source of his hilarity with her.  
  
Eventually, his laughter subsides into slightly more manageable chuckles, if only because he’s running out of breath. There’s a decisive twinkle in his dark eyes as they bore into hers, they lack the earlier reluctance as he looks up at her.  
  
Sitting up again, Zoro rests his forehead against hers, hands cupping her face as mere inches separate their mouths.  
  
“ _So_ …”, he trails off, his voice low, huskier than usual. “Are you telling me you were planning to sleep with me, _and_ sleep with me, the whole time?”  
  
His question makes Robin’s face incandescent, but it’s a different fire that’s burning in her veins. “I did entertain both possibilities in my mind before I invited you here today, but like I said, I wasn’t _expecting_ anything to happen…”, she defends, but he quickly shuts her up with a peck on the lips, and then another.  
  
“Not like that. Obviously, I, _uh_ … I really appreciate your concern, but that’s not what I meant”. He plants another kiss on her mouth, and he makes it linger. “So, you wouldn’t think I’m a _pig_ if I said, pointblank, that I can’t think of something better to do with my time than sleeping with you?”  
  
Before she can say anything, he adds, “One way _and_ the other”.  
  
_Oh_. She sees what’s happening here. She understands his unstoppable fit of laughter, if he really feels the way he says. Now that it has been ascertained that he doesn’t feel _molested_ , on her part Robin can only find his behavior exceptionally endearing. If she knew that was the reason behind his hesitance, she would have asked him about it sooner.  
  
She is not sure what has convinced him that she would be offended by his attraction to her, but she thinks it’s cute how deeply he seems to treasure her opinion of him.  
  
She has never had that. People always tended to assume they were better than her, least of all cared about her appraisal of their character, although now that she has moved to the New World, she is starting to believe that perhaps she was just dealt bad batches of people before.   
  
“Well, either you’re not a pig, or we both are”.  
  
“ _Good_ ”.  
  
Then things become a little blurry, because Zoro undoes her ponytail, grabs a fistful of her hair and crashes his mouth over hers, kissing her like he has never done before.  
  
Not that she doesn’t have a long mental carousel of breath-taking kisses he has already given her, but this one is different, because she can feel that whatever was holding him back has now evaporated: she can tell by the additional pressure his fingers apply as he runs his hands over her body, by the urgency with which he devours her lips, by the heartbeat thundering in his ribcage as he pushes her closer and closer to it, embracing her so her tightly it seems like he’s afraid she would disappear if he loosens his grip ever so slightly, and Robin can’t help it but reciprocate the affection he is currently showering her in, so she kisses him back with everything she has.  
  
Calloused digits trace her jaw, neck and collarbone, run down her arms and ghost the sides of her breasts, cling to the curve of her hips and then slide lower to caress her thighs, soon reaching up once more to cup her ass. Using his hold there as leverage, he grinds his hips in slow, deliberate movements, and the tension they spark between her legs is hectic and electrifying, almost unbearable, as his tongue delivers and demands equal amounts of dedication and zeal.  
  
When he pulls away it’s like the very air she breathes has been cut off, and she knows she probably looks like an _idiot_ , staring at him with a bewildered expression, mouth agape, her eyes widened and glossy, mirroring perfectly the whirlwind of emotions rushing through her.  
  
She licks her lips. “I…”  
  
“ _Too much_?”, the tiniest hint of insecurity manifests in his voice once more, but Robin is quick to shush it and send it back to where it belongs: _Neverland_.  
  
“God. _No_ ”, she replies. It’s suddenly hard to string into coherent sentences the thoughts and feelings within her, frustrating even, because she knows exactly what she wants, physically or emotionally, she just can’t translate it to words without her face turning as red as a tomato.  
  
She hopes her eyes can do the talking for her, as they inspection every single inch of his face, starting from the sharp line of his jaw and ascending more and more. She pauses for a long moment when they land on his lips, red and slightly swollen from all the kissing, but it’s only when she gets to his dark orbs that she is hit by the blunt force of what they reflect.  
  
Unapologetically, Zoro looks at her like a tiger would look at its prey, ready to bend their hind legs and pounce, but not a single complaint arises in her mind as she entertains the idea of posing as his meal.  
  
Tapping a finger over her mouth, she murmurs, “I want more”.  
  
She gets barely a flash of the handsome smile he shows her next, and albeit dazzling she doesn’t mind it, because he complies instantly to her request, drawing their lips together once more. 

* * *

Zoro doesn’t believe in many things, in nothing esoteric or religious, but he is forced to reconsider his position over Karma.  
  
His must have been tampered with, because there’s no way he _deserves_ the way he feels right now.  
  
Kissing Robin is like drinking sake that doesn’t burn down your throat, or messes up your liver, and touching her is something he is afraid he will never get used to, for he would define the sparks her skin causes under his fingertips with many words, but never as _normal_.   
  
Both hands roaming under her shirt, her lips are very sweet, her scent intoxicating. His mouth moves of its own accord, chasing hers as each stroke of her tongue sends a shiver of pleasure down his spine, making him flex his muscles by reaction, much to his girlfriend’s delight, whose dainty fingers are gingerly exploring his chest, squeezing and palming every inch of skin she fancies, until soon she decides his t-shirt is too much of an impediment, and starts yanking at the neckline to communicate that she wants it removed.  
  
Her eagerness is surprising, but treasured, and he doesn’t see a reason to make her wait.  
  
(Other than tease her, but he is pretty sure he would never win at that game in his current predicament, not when he is so damn _hard_.)  
  
Switching their positions not unlike she did earlier, resting her back on the mattress and sitting between her legs, he is mesmerized by the sight in front of him, as Robin's messy hair are spread in every direction around her head, plump lips parted and chest heaving up and down frantically as she stares longingly at him.  
  
Grabbing the lower hem of his t-shirt, the green-haired teen peels it off his body without a second thought, a smirk forcing its way to his face when he catches her eyes roam appraisingly over his naked torso. He is not someone people would call vain, he doesn’t care much about his appearance, but he is not oblivious to the results of all his training and weightlifting, and kind of proud of his body, in a sense. He is glad she seems to appreciate his efforts too.   
  
Zoro doesn’t waste any more time, however, repositioning himself on top of her and covering her thinner form not unlike a blanket would, and quickly he claims her mouth in another kiss. But then he tilts his neck to the side, lets his lips trace the sharp line of her jaw as he settles between her open thighs, and then grazes her throat with his teeth, leaving a trail of wet kisses and moving further down until he stumbles upon light pink fabric.  
  
She grunts her disappointment when he stops, pulling back a little, but she soon changes her mind when the t-shirt starts raising on her chest, accompanied by his right hand, and soon all the beauty hiding underneath it it’s exposed to his hungry eyes.  
  
The curve of her hips, her toned midriff, even her bellybutton is lovely, there is so much to marvel at, he is not sure where to start. The movement speeds up when the t-shirt glides past the point where he expected to see the outline of a bra, and when he finds out she is not wearing one, the garment is thrown somewhere behind him in less than ten seconds.  
  
It’s not much of her upper body that he hasn’t seen before, thanks to the scant coverage provided by her bikini top, but that doesn’t mean his expectations aren’t abundantly exceeded.  
  
Her bare chest looks even better than it did in the many dreams that have featured it, and he freezes temporarily as his eyes land on her small, rosy nipples. The perky mounds wink at him from their privileged spot perched on top of her round, supple breasts. While he doesn’t know _shit_ about sizes, there is quite _a lot_ for him there to stare at in wonder, so much so that Robin eventually lets out a small snort and cocks an eyebrow at him to inquire about his gawking.  
  
Scooting a bit lower on the mattress, he rests his lips on her navel, just below her bellybutton, using his mouth to trace the subtle lines of her abdominal muscles. Her skin feels oh-so-very-soft on his face, slightly vanilla-scented, and although it’s a bit hard to look her in the eyes in this position, he cranes his neck and makes the effort, finding her blue orbs trained attentively on him.  
  
He is not sure what his expression looks like, but she must get an idea of the degree of admiration that’s raging inside him, because she relaxes visibly in his arms, despite the blush still staining the top of her cheeks. It feels strange that someone as impossibly good-looking as her would feel self-conscious about their body, and the idea she could undervalue her appearance just as she undervalues herself as a whole, although both he and the rest of the Straw-Hats are doing their best to change it, doesn’t sit well with him at all.  
  
“ _Fuck_ ”, he exhales. “You’re. So. Beautiful”.  
  
Each word is preceded and followed by a wet kiss, as one of his hands slowly caresses its way up her thigh until it reaches her waist, one finger curling around the waistband of her yoga pants and sliding it a little lower. A thin stripe of purple fabric sits on her hipbone and he drinks in the sight of the lacy, see-through pattern of her underwear.  
  
Looking up at Robin, she finds her a blushing and yet smiling mess. She stares back, biting her lower lip, thoroughly incapable of receiving a compliment and refraining from questioning it, so he speaks again before they can start an argument over how absolutely gorgeous she is of all things.  
  
He glances down, at his right hand, then back at her. “Mind if I, _uh_?”  
  
Robin shakes her head. “Not at all”.  
  
So he slides the pants down her legs, removes her socks gently and then, as he sees what her panties look like in their totality, and gets a glimpse, too, of what lays underneath thanks to the sheerness of the fabric, he can’t help it but let out a small chuckle.  
  
“So…”, he pauses, placing a long, languid kiss on her thigh, then climbing up a little higher, his breath ghosting over the spot where the fabric meets her skin. “Not _expecting_ anything”, he jokes.  
  
“A girl can still hope”.   
  
That does something to him, it injects a certain urgency in his system. To know she has been looking forward to this moment just like he did, well, the last of his reticence is now gone.  
  
Zoro likes her, and for some reason she likes him back, they both want to do it, _so_ …  
  
… _Why the fuck not_? 

* * *

She couldn’t foresee Zoro going down on her, seeing that she has only been offered one time before in her life and it wasn’t a great, or even good experience, so when he takes off her underwear, parts her thighs and dips his head in the middle, her first reaction is surprise.  
  
A bit anxious, but not opposed to the idea, she has her eyes closed when the first stroke of his tongue is bestowed upon her clitoris, but they shut open as the next comes around.  
  
She had no idea this could feel so… _delightful_.  
  
There’s still a bit of strain on the muscles of her legs as she adjusts to the whirlwind of sensations rushing through her, but she tries not to press his face too hard between her inner thighs as his mouth transitions to a quicker pace. Too focused on the sight before her, breath accelerating, Robin doesn’t stop the small cry that falls from her lips when he hits a particularly enjoyable spot.  
  
But it isn’t just his tongue grazing the most intimate part of her body that makes the whole experience exceptionally hot. The devil is in the details, in the way his digits sink in her thighs, or his hair faintly tickles her skin, how he hums from time to time, as if he’s consuming the best meal of his life, and she doesn’t think she could ever get enough, even though her body is responding in ways it would take her fingers a much longer time to achieve.  
  
(Unless she feels particularly inspired…)  
  
A higher-pitched moan tumbles out of her mouth when he lets go of one of her legs to brush his thumb over her entrance, all the way producing a sucking motion with his lips that makes her tilt her head back and clutch the comforter she is sprawled on top of.  
  
She can feel her insides squirm, as the pleasure builds up and everything south of her belly button gets wetter and slicker with arousal, but he doesn’t seem to mind that half of his face is presently coated in her juices. If anything, his mouth is moving quicker as each moment ticks by.  
  
When Zoro switches his thumb with his index finger and puts it halfway inside her, she genuinely believes it can’t get any better than this ( _seriously, why didn’t they do this sooner_?), but then he pushes it all the way through, pulls it out and slides it back in, slowly, thus proving her wrong.  
  
It feels a bit like floating on a cloud, she muses, only the cloud is an injection of dopamine, a rollercoaster ride, the taste of her favorite dessert.  
  
She feels so good she might cry. Thankfully, her vagina is already taking care of that for her.  
  
It’s kind of uncharted territory for Robin to have someone between her legs who seems so dedicated to her pleasure, but she’s not complaining: _better late than never_.  
  
As her orgasm almost ( _almost_ ) strikes her and her lover slows down, changing lightly the pattern followed by his tongue, at first she doesn’t think much of it and only buckles her hips in the direction of his face to signal that she wants more; when it happens a second time, however, she gets suspicious: two people can play this game, and she stores the information away for a later time, because there’s no way she won’t retaliate when she finally gets to return him in the favor.  
  
Probably not tonight, though, as it’s somewhere else she wants his…  
  
Despite the present circumstances, a blush creeps up her face as the image flashes in her mind, all the while sending another jolt of unbearable bliss straight to her core.  
  
She can sense her muscles, _all_ of them, tightening as he works his magic on her body, and she knows the choice of not letting her reach the highest height ( _yet_ ) is deliberate on Zoro’s part.  
  
“ _Fucking_ _tease_ ”, she hisses out of breath.  
  
She _feels_ the smile his mouth curls up into rubbing over her clit, and that alone refuels the storm he was trying to tame. She is so close…  
  
It’s with what she would later define _desperation_ that one of her hands reaches down, and tugs gently at his hair. One day she’ll perhaps feel confident enough to _tell_ him what she wants and how she wants it, but they haven’t reached quite that level yet, so the next best thing is showing him.  
  
And it seems to work, because his tongue returns to its old rhythm, and his middle finger joins its kin. By now, her thoughts are a blur of disconnected one-liners and impressions, as what little concentration she can still muster goes towards following the movements of his neck and jaw with her hips, chasing after the sensation that has been building up thus far, which is now ready ( _almost_ , _almost_ ) to be released.  
  
She's a bit self-conscious about the cry she emits when her body is eventually rocked by the wave of pleasure she has been waiting for, legs convulsing and squeezing his face as fireworks explode behind shut eyelids, but not _ashamed_ – he deserves to see his exceptional merits recognized.  
  
Zoro stills in his ministrations, but he doesn’t move an inch, not until she has completely rode it out, like there’s no better place for her to come than his face, and that thought, the first coherent one she manages to produce, makes it all a bit more intense.  
  
With her eyes still closed, she feels him rolling off the side, but just as she’s about to open them, quietly drawing her legs together once more, her boyfriend then wraps both arms around her thighs and starts peppering small kisses on the one closest to his face, slowly making his way up to her hipbone. His lips tickle her, and don’t help her jagged breathing, but the gesture melts her heart.  
  
When she finally gathers up the courage to look at him, Robin finds him staring, a handsome grin stretching his mouth as chin to nose his skin glimmers, tangible proof that it didn’t all just happen in her head. She wishes she could snap a picture.  
  
Returning his smile with one of her own, albeit a little more skittish, she props herself on one elbow and threads her other hand through his hair, stroking the green strands gently, as if to apologize for her previous offence. Not that she regrets it.  
  
It always surprises her how someone as tall and brawny as him, someone most people at school would define menacing, turns into a big, purring cat the moment they are alone and she touches him. She wouldn’t have pegged him, or herself for that matter, as _affectionate_ before they started dating, but the truth is they cuddle _a lot_ , and she absolutely _loves_ it.  
  
He lets out a small grunt of disappointment when her fingertips stop massaging his scalp, to which she replies with a small chuckle. He was most definitely a cat in a previous life.  
  
Beckoning him forward with one finger, Robin watches intently as he climbs up her body.  
  
“Aren’t you something else, uh?”, she whispers before she kisses him.  
  
She is uncertain whether her lips alone are enough to convey just how cherished she feels right now, so she focuses on his instead. She tastes herself in his mouth, which reminds her of what he was doing just little over a minute ago. Her arms wrap around his neck as her tongue plunges into his mouth, curling around his, while his hands are quick to find their way back to her body, and even more easily set it back on fire again.  
  
They both lay sideways, so she doesn’t have to apply too much pressure to flatten him on the mattress. Her fingertips trace a slow, straight line down Zoro’s chest, throat to navel, until her hand closes around the waistband of the small sports shorts, which do nothing to conceal his arousal.  
  
She snorts disapprovingly at the fabric. “Why are you still dressed?” 

* * *

He died and somehow he ended up in heaven.  
  
It’s the only explanation that makes a little sense, although the rational part of his brain reminds him that he doesn’t believe in this stuff, and therefore, as a matter of fact, he _really_ did spend the past twenty minutes with his head between Robin’s legs, as proven by the rock sitting in his underwear.  
  
While not big on sweets, with the exception of the Baratie’s infamous cranberry cake, Zoro concludes that he could have a piece of _that_ candy everyday and never grow tired of it.  
  
He smiles upon hearing her request, because those hideous shorts are really getting a bit too constricting for his taste. Her fingers caress his erection, slow and featherlight, but they still upon hearing the cheeky reply. “Maybe I was waiting for you to undress me…”  
  
“Were you now?”, her eyebrow reaches even higher, but her pretty smile doesn’t falter.  
  
In a single gesture, both the shorts and his boxers are lowered, or at least they go as down as gravity and the boy’s weight allow, but the problem it’s quickly solved as he buckles up his hips and helps her slide them down his legs.  
  
Albeit confident in what his genetics have blessed him with, it still makes him a bit nervous to have her eyes trained on his hard-on. It’s the first time she sees him completely naked, after all.  
  
Robin doesn’t say anything, but her lopsided grin suggests she is, at the very least, not disappointed with what’s before her, and the sentiment that swells up in his chest apparently decides to manifest in his boner, too, because it twitches slightly under her stare.  
  
( _Good grief_ , how come his penis has _already_ betrayed him?)  
  
Her hand fists around it and Zoro immediately sits up, cups on side of her neck and pulls her closer to crash his lips on her, all just so he can muffle the strangled sound he barely manages to bit back. Her palm is warm, her fingers oh-so-very-soft, and especially the thumb reaching up to rub the pre-cum all over the tip… but what his girlfriend ( _still quite can’t believe that, especially now_ ) has in mind is not a hand-job, and he realizes her intentions as she starts climbing on top of him.  
  
Two things occur to him: he, Roronoa Zoro, is the luckiest bastard in Grand Line City, and sex is what causes _unwanted pregnancies_. The latter thought is a sobering one.  
  
Knees propped on the sides of his thighs, Robin lifts her hips, one hand reaching down to grab his throbbing erection, but just as she’s about to rotate her wrist and draw its end closer to her entrance, he wraps his fingers around her arm to stop her and breaks off the kiss.  
  
“Wait… We should, _uh_ … The condom”, he mumbles, and was this any other circumstance he would probably smack himself on the forehead for his inarticulation.  
  
She plants a wet kiss on his cheek. “I’m on the pill, so… Unless potential babies aren’t your only concern…”, she trails off, training her blue eyes on him, a more serious expression on her face.  
  
It takes him longer than he is proud to admit to decipher her words.  
  
Is she… is she talking about STDs?  
  
_Jeez_ , no. He got himself checked after the single one night stand he has had after his breakup with Tashigi over a year ago, so it’s all perfectly… _healthy_.  
  
“Just the babies”.  
  
“ _Good_ ”.  
  
Robin yanks her arm away from his grip gently, measuring her strength with great care as her hand is still wrapped around his shaft, and then she brings the other up to cup his chin, capturing his lips in a slow, languid kiss and shifting her hips slightly.  
  
When she’s finally pleased with the angle, she slides down on him very slowly, until a couple of inches are buried inside her, letting out a small sigh.  
  
On his part, Zoro sits completely still under her, barely capable of returning her kiss properly for a moment there, because sure, he has fantasized about this for quite some time now and knew it would be good, _great_ even, but he is not even fully inside of her and he can already tell that what’s about to happen will be the best sex of his life.  
  
(Maybe it’s because his feelings are all laid out in front of her, and she’s stroking them with loving fingertips, kissing them better, and it’s the first time he experiences such a strong connection with someone, something that hasn’t been forged on shared tragedies or simple close proximity, but only prompted by a genuine desire to get to know the other better, and from there to shower them with affection. He is not stupid, he knows she could _break_ him if she wanted to, and he’d happily let her, but somehow his heart also knows that she won’t, and that inspires an even deeper devotion.)  
  
Returning her hand to the side of his face, where his earrings tinkle as it brushes upon them, Robin then slips a bit further down, gradually, and as he sinks deeper and deeper into her warmth, breath itching in his throat, the boy has to conjure up every terrible image he can think of, like the _shitty_ -cook’s eyebrows, not to burst right here and now.   
  
_Holy fucking hell_.  
  
Her lips slow down a little as her hips ascend again, calmly, a small crease on the surface of a still ocean, and while he misses the scorching heat which enveloped him just a second ago, the present _friction_ more than makes up for it.  
  
His mind follows the spirals perched on Sanji’s forehead a final time as Zoro tries to get a hold of the thunderous beat in his chest. His arms close around her, one draped around her hips as his other hand rests between her shoulder blades, and he squeezes her lightly.  
  
As hard as it is not to follow the gentle rocking of her hips, as Robin’s arms wrap around his neck and her incredibly soft chest presses against his, he lets her set the rhythm for now, adjust the sheathe to the proverbial sword. His eyes snap open when he is reminded what his current position entails, of the proximity of his face to her upper body.  
  
She must be sensing somehow that something has changed in his countenance, because less than two seconds later she breaks off the kiss and blue, crystalline irises stare knowingly into his very soul, her pupils a bit wider than usual.  
  
Her bangs ricochet in all directions on top of her eyebrows, a couple of raven strands stuck to her pale forehead; the color of blood (and life) dusts the top of her cheeks and with her lips slightly parted she is something out of those impressionist paintings Perona is so fond of.  
  
(The marriage of beauty and grace, but with an eerie quality to it – not quite an angel, but a _muse_.)  
  
He runs his lips down her neck, lavishes her collarbone with kisses and holds her a bit more tightly, finding that he just can’t quite get enough of the feeling of her skin beneath his fingertips. When the tip of Zoro’s tongue lands on her left nipple, right before his teeth close lightly around it, the gesture is rewarded by a harder snap of her hips, echoed by a quiet moan, which in turn makes something snap in his mind. He tightens his hold on her hips, using it as his guide to predict her movements and meet her thrust by thrust, while the other rushes between their joined bodies to search for the bundle of nerves that’s the ultimate key to female pleasure.  
  
(Or so say the forums discussing the topic.  
  
Something tells him actual women are more likely to dispense good advice about their bodies.  
  
Besides, he has to be _practical_ here. If she keeps up with the sound effects, no amount of bad thoughts and self-control will keep him from tripping off the edge.)  
  
One of Robin’s hands grabs a handful of his hair, pushing his face even closer to her chest, while the other is propped on his shoulder, so that she has something to lean on as her bounce becomes more frantic. Her insides clamp around his sex, tight and yet soft, wet and yet warm.  
  
A louder moan tumbles out of her lips as he figures out the right pression to apply to his thumb as it runs in small circles between her legs, and the sound sends a strange shiver of pleasure down his spine, propagating to all of his nerves. His instinctive growl of response is muffled by the beautiful, soft skin of her breast, although he has now switched his attention to the other one.  
  
The hand on her hip slithers down, giving one of her butt-cheeks a not so gentle squeeze as their bodies slam against one another a bit more desperately with every toe-curling thrust. He is not sure how much longer he can last, what with the fact he hasn’t had sex in quite some time and is now doing it with someone he finds fiercely attractive, but he is determined to try his hardest to make this whole experience as unforgettable for her as it is for him.  
  
Robin suddenly pushes him a little back, cupping his face with both hands to bring their mouths together once more, licking his lips with an appreciative hum. Her voice is breathy, it sounds different than usual, as her brows narrow despite her closed eyes, and she whispers, “ _I think I’m_ …”  
  
But the sentence dies on her tongue, and her eyes shut open once more. Her back arches sharply and her fingers dig into his shoulder blades as with a strangled scream she holds him as tightly as she possibly can. Watching her ride out her orgasm, her insides growing slicker with every clench of her walls, Zoro knows that the countdown to his own release has just started.   
  
_Ten. Nine. Eight_.  
  
He is not sure he has ever buckled his hips so hard, but at this point he is just following what the tingle in his spine (and balls) suggests. _Fuck harder_.  
  
_Seven. Six. Five. Four_.  
  
Robin’s chest is beautifully flushed, just as her face, her gaze of molten topaz unbearably soft. He could stare at her face for the rest of his life.  
  
_Three. Two. One_.  
  
A deeper, higher-pitched jolt of pleasure runs down his spine as he thrusts his hips forward a final time, stopping any and all motion as his cock twitches one last time, as his own orgasm manifests in the spurt of white he pours into her body. An undignified sound escapes his lips, which he tries to cover by drawing a very sharp breath. Then he lifts both arms and wraps them around her shoulders in a tight embrace, letting his back fall on the mattress and dragging her along.  
  
Despite the sudden coldness he feels as he slips out of her, it’s with a dumbfounded expression and a huge grin stretched across his lips that he looks up at ceiling.  
  
If this is a dream, he’ll _cut_ anyone who dares waking him up. 

* * *

She keeps her eyes closed, hiding her face in his chest as she tries to catch her breath. Legs still shaking, it takes a little while for her mind to register rationally what has just transpired between them, but when she does none of the embarrassment she has anticipated comes.  
  
She has been wanting this to happen for so long, and it exceeded even her wildest expectations; it’s the first time intimacy has felt quite so _right_ , natural even, that she feels like she can trust someone completely, not with just her body, but her emotions, too.  
  
The hand that lazily caresses Robin’s hair as she returns his hug speaks of feelings she has read about, but never touched with her own hands, and something in her heart just melts when he starts peppering with kisses the crown of her head, to the point she would probably cry, if only the urge to smile like an idiot wasn’t so damn strong. She kisses him back, pillow-soft lips over his sternum, one finger stroking the length of his lightly freckled collarbone before going for his upper arm.  
  
“ _Ugh_ , I like you so much”, she complains with childlike voice.  
  
“I hope so”. She still refuses to look up at him, but Zoro is having none of it. Placing two fingers under her chin, he tilts her head up and winks, showing her an equally foolish grin.  
  
“Because I’m crazy about you, Robin”.  
  
She has no idea how one person manages to be so… ( _phenomenal_? _wholesome_?), but it’s undeniable that whenever he looks at her a certain way the butterflies in her stomach somersault not unlike a clumsy gymnast, and she finds herself sinking a little deeper each time in the instinctive, primordial adoration she feels for this boy.  
  
Her reply materializes as an open-mouthed, reverent kiss. She thinks of words she is not ready to consider privately, least of all share with him, but she hopes she can tell him with her actions that she doesn’t plan on going anywhere, not when she has discovered the kind of safe haven his arms are.  
  
Robin is mildly aware of the chill that’s now grazing her body, and knows that the longer they wait and the more their nakedness is likely to feel awkward, but she still takes her time to bit his lower lip and curl her tongue around his, as a saccharine voice whispers on the back of her mind how she doesn’t want tonight to ever end.  
  
An unexpected shiver runs down her spine, and it must reverberate on Zoro’s body, because he rolls her to the side and gets himself up.  
  
“Wait for me under the covers”, he instructs. Her purple underwear lands neatly on her belly, winning him a grateful smile. “I’ll get the clothes”.  
  
Next up he puts his boxer briefs back on, then grabs both shirts and her pants, making his way back to the bed. Robin grabs the pink shirt gingerly and throws it on before she crawls her way under the heavy comforter, ignoring the yoga pants altogether. With a shrug, he sets them down on the nearby chair, then puts on the t-shirt and joins her under the covers.  
  
For a moment, they lay awkwardly next to each other.  
  
“Zoro?”  
  
“ _Yeah_?”, his voice is barely a whisper, low and soothing.  
  
“Can we… _Umh_ ”, she trails off, clearing her throat. Her tone is that of conspiracy. “Can we… _cuddle_?”  
  
His chuckle is loud, but she can sense no mockery in it. He wraps his other arm around her, pulling her to his chest, and she lets out a contented sigh when he resumes touching her hair. “Sure”.  
  
Lights switched off, it isn’t long, despite the good intentions, before their breaths slow down and the first muffled yawns can be heard from both parties. Enveloped in the warmth of his body, his kisses still tickling all over her face, she concludes that were this a book than the present moment would be the tragic point, because the signals are all there, and the voice in her head pipes up once more.  
  
She is falling in love with him.

* * *

**END OF PART 1**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Happy St. Valentine's Day, I guess! 💖  
> Double update, so every main ship of this story gets their moment of glory. 
> 
> A special thanks goes to [aspiringtrashpanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspiring_TrashPanda/pseuds/Aspiring_TrashPanda) because the smut took me something like a week and I'd have never got to the end of it without her precious support. You should totally check out her stories! 🥰💗
> 
> I have mixed feelings about the smut, tbh.  
> As I re-read it, I couldn't help it but cringe over some part (it's even possible to write smut without a healthy dose of cringe, I wonder?), but I also thought others were smooth-ish, or laughed at my own snark. English is not my first language so you could say I am particular about using certain words in smut (lmao), but I surrendered on a couple of terms in this because... yeah, at some point it was a matter of "fuck it, I've got to get to the end of this, don't I?"
> 
> Nonetheless, I really hope you enjoyed it!  
> My Zoro can be quite cheesy, I know, but these two are my absolute OTP, so I hope it at least came across how deeply I love them. 🥺💖
> 
> As for Law and Luffy, you'll be happy to know that the main angst about them, from now on, is going to be external. I really love the scene in Skypiea where Luffy sings that song, so I _had_ to include it. Nami and Sanji... I know you have been waiting for a long, long time, but I hope you're happy about the moment they had. More will come in the future. 💖
> 
> Until next time, 
> 
> p.s. I'm always happy to know what you guys think, so consider leaving a comment if you've got two minutes to spare! 😇
> 
> p.p.s. What was Vivi thinking, I wonder? 😋


	25. Hayloft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Vivi deals with her choices from the night before and makes another, the (hungover) Straw-Hats who showed up for school run into Kid in the hallways, old lady Kokoro is given something to feast her eyes upon, and the bi-weekly poker tournament between a selection of New Marineford's professors in Sengoku's basement takes place. Gossip ensues.

Blue hair glued to the back of her neck by sweat, it’s with a frustrated groan that Vivi rolls over in her bed the morning after Halloween, keeping her eyelids stubbornly shut even as her mind grows sharper with each passing moment.  
  
With such a circle fastened around her head, she’s unlikely to go back to sleep, especially when random, out-of-context images from the night before start popping up in her thoughts, making them even blurrier.  
  
Flashes of a charming smile, eyes darker than the night, freckles dotted all over his cheekbones like a work of art. Soft lips, and the ridiculous feel of toilet paper, of all things, before her hands connected with the bare skin of his lean hips. The drinks she had _after_ she kissed Luffy’s brother, as if they could retroactively justify losing her mind.  
  
 _She kissed Luffy’s brother_ …  
  
Covering her face with both hands, she lets out a small scream, kicking the sheets away from her body. She can’t believe she did something like that.  
  
This is not her style.  
  
And the worst thing is that there was no grand gesture on Ace’s part, no actual reason she should have done it, if not that she _wanted_ to.  
  
Her smartphone vibrates somewhere near her on the mattress, signaling a new message, and with a grimace she readies herself to face the consequences of her actions.  
  
Surprisingly, her screensaver doesn’t present too many notifications. 

* * *

> **11** : **48** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  in “Tea Party ☕️”:  
>  _Ok, babe.  
>  Spill it.  
> What the fuck was that?_ 👁  
>   
>  **11** : **50** \- @ **kayaintheskywithdiamonds**  
>  in “Tea Party ☕️”:   
> _You and Ace, uh?_ 🙈  
>   
>  **11** : **51** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  in “Tea Party ☕️”:  
>  _That was… unexpected._ 🤭  
>   
>  **12** : **27** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  in “Tea Party ☕️”:  
>  _I don’t even know what to say.  
>  It just kind of happened???  
> HELP. _🥺  
>   
>  **12** : **29** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  in “Tea Party ☕️”: _  
> Why don’t you start from the beginning?_  
>  _p.s. @thedemonchild,  
>  why are you two lovebirds not at school?_

* * *

> **01** : **49** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _thank you for listening to me (:  
>  sleep well, princess_  
>   
>  **09** : **25** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _ten minutes of class and I already want to kill myself…  
>  good morning._ ☀️🔥  
>   
>  **12** : **35** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _I guess I overreacted a little…  
>  Good morning to you, Ace._

* * *

The floor is cold under her bare feet, but she hauls herself up without a second thought, grimacing as she spots her reflection in the mirror.  
  
Last night she threw herself in the bed with her costume still on and without removing her makeup, which is now dusted all over her cheeks. Her hair isn’t doing any better, as her complicate hairstyle is now a crazy cat-ball flopping around her head, the blue strands pale, almost lifeless. And she’s missing class.  
  
Well, she would technically be on her way to the cafeteria with the others right now, and for a brief moment she considers the idea of showing up for Tsuru’s lesson in the afternoon, but then she decides against it.  
  
She’s not sure she’s ready to face the rest of the school, not when there’s a distinct possibility that someone other than her friends saw her making out with a renowned womanizer.  
  
 _Portgas D. Ace_.  
  
The more she talks and spends time to him, the more the stories seem just that, information someone has fabricated, out of either spite or boredom, because they don’t reflect the sweet guy who often stays up until late to text her even if he has to wake up at sunrise the following morning.  
  
No matter the amount of attitude she gave him, he is one of the nicest people Vivi has ever met.  
  
He is kind, but passionate about his ideas, he doesn’t take himself too seriously but at the same time there’s depth to his personality. If this wasn’t the same Ace she watched goof around with Luffy for years, she would say he is kind of the guy some part of her has always hoped to meet.  
  
She’d lie if she said she didn’t miss him in the past ten days, although back then she thought he deserved the silent treatment. That day at the cinema, when after leaving him in front of the popcorn stand, she found him engrossed in conversation with a stunning girl upon returning from the toilette, Vivi just… well, when they hugged, her brain immediately jumped to conclusions.  
  
As it turns out, they were the wrong ones, but it doesn’t mean she still doesn’t feel very uncertain about the soft spot she is carving for Luffy’s brother in her heart.  
  
They kissed, multiple times, and she liked it a lot, but he is still the older sibling of her captain ( _weird_ ), and she can’t afford another wound like the one Koza inflicted upon her.  
  
Perhaps it would be best if she just leaves things as they are, declares it a one-time mistake.  
  
His lips tasted of cotton-candy though, and his arms around Vivi felt just as hot as the fire that fascinates him so much, so giving up on all of that without even trying doesn’t sound too good to her ears. She may be cautious, but she’s not a _quitter_ …  
  
…She has taken a risk once and, well, thus far the choice has been rewarding, hasn’t it? 

* * *

> **12** : **40** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _kiku's a great friend  
>  you'd love her_
> 
> _anyway, shouldn’t you be at school?_ 😏  
>   
>  **12** : **42** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _I forgot to set up my alarm, ops.  
>  It’s the first day of school I miss, so I think it’ll be fine. (:  
>   
> _ **12** : **45** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _I take it you’re free later, then?  
>   
> _ **12** : **51** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _It depends.  
>  What did you have in mind?  
>   
>  _**13** : **03** \- @ **firefist**  
>  _want to go on a date?  
>   
> _ **13** : **06** \- @ **nefertarivivi**  
>  _Why not? (:_

* * *

With barely four hours and a half of sleep on his shoulders, Sanji has had a hard time keeping his focus during class today, still vexed by the pounding headache which woke him up this morning at an earlier time than his alarm was set at, but, all things considered, it has been worth it.  
  
If he didn’t show up to New Marineford he would have missed the radiant smile Nami showed him when he arrived, as she waited for him by the gates, or the sweet, sweet kiss she planted on his lips to greet him, or then again he wouldn’t feel the discreet brushes of her fingers against his as they walk through the building with their friends, directed to the cafeteria.  
  
The Straw-Hats are quieter than usual today, and quieter is the rest of the school, too.  
  
It seems more than one person has been _KO_ -ed by Drake’s party, as many students are nowhere to be seen and the majority of those who are actually here resemble zombies more than teenagers, and to say their teachers aren’t happy would be a major understatement.  
  
It started with Borsalino, who erupted in a long tirade about the importance of being constant in one’s studies at the beginning of their first period, and even their lovely art professor, Hina, who’s one of the student-body’s absolute favorites, has made a passive-aggressive comment on the matter, although she didn’t elaborate much on it.  
  
Moreover, they have just crossed paths in the hallway with Aokiji, and Sanji could only describe as _cringe_ the way the entire crew felt when he nonchalantly walked up to Chopper, one of his pupils, and asked him pointblank if he knew why Nico Robin was missing school today.  
  
Needless to say, Chopper stuttered his way through an half-assed excuse (the poor boy is thoroughly incapable of lying, it turns out), blabbering something about the girl catching a cold last night, and the math professor quite obviously did not buy it, fixing the whole group with a glare that was quite terrifying to be on the receiving end of.  
  
Something tells him the _marimo_ ’s grades are about to drop considerably.  
  
The melodious voice piping up on his right, honey-laden, snaps him abruptly out of his thoughts.  
  
“What do you think, Sanji-kun? Should I get the pasta or the fish burger?”  
  
The blond follows her gaze, and he snorts upon seeing the dish that has been placed behind the small piece of paper with the word “lasagna” scribbled on it.  
  
That… _thing_ can be called in many ways (like _abomination_ , for example), but it’s not a lasagna.  
  
“The fish burger”, he supplies, grimly.  
  
One would expect that such a prestigious and renowned school would serve only the best food, especially considering how many bellies they pay every year just to attend the institute, but a skilled sous-chef in training cannot be fooled. The meals provided aren’t bad, _per se_ , but they aren’t great either.  
  
He can tell with one look whether a dish has been prepared with love or not, and in this case he would go as far as to claim that, for whatever reason, the ladies and gentlemen who work in New Marineford’s cafeteria do _not_ like the students. At all.   
  
Nami frowns. “Yeah, I thought so. At least it looks like it was cooked _today_ ”.  
  
The cafeteria is not as loud as usual, fewer voices and spurts of laughter can be heard, but the Straw-Hats’ table is just as lively as it usually is.  
  
Franky is getting grilled by the girls about the tall, mysterious purple-haired boy he has disappeared with last night, although he doesn’t seem too willing to breach the subject.  
  
Whilst he normally talks pretty nonchalantly of his romantic endeavors, it’s clear that something is different this time around, because Sanji can swear he has never seen him looking quite so… _sad_.  
  
“Oh, well…”, he chuckles, but the sound is mirthless. “I’m still trying to figure things out. Iceburg is _fun_ , but I’m not sure he is worth it at this point”.  
  
“What do you mean?”, Chopper pipes up, his lips pressed in a tight line.  
  
The sixteen-years-old teen is perhaps the sweetest person who ever walked the hallways of New Marineford, or at least the most empatethic.  
  
It’s hard for him to ignore the underlying sorrow in one of his best friends’ voice.  
  
“It’s complicated, Chopper-bro”, Franky says, a small smile on his lips. “I’m just not willing to put in the effort for someone who doesn’t”.  
  
“ _Oh_ ”. The guilt Kaya feels over asking is palpable in her voice.  
  
“Well said, Franky”, Usopp chimes in, trying to redirect the conversation to safer binaries. He sneaks his arm around his girlfriend’s waist, drawing her closer to him and planting a loud kiss on her cheek. “Relationships are supposed to make you happy”.  
  
“…And if he hurts you, the boys will kick his ass, and I will steal his money”, concludes Nami with an evil twinkle in her eyes. “Am I right, Captain?”  
  
“ _Eh_?”  
  
Five sets of eyes land on Luffy all at once, laughter impossible to contain as they once more notice just how weirdly he is acting today, more so than he usually does.  
  
He has spent the whole morning locked up in who knows what kind of daydream, but all of his friends can tell something is not quite right with their raven-haired leader. His attention today is too fleeting even for him, and Sanji can’t say he hasn’t noticed how his eyes rhythmically scan the entire cafeteria from time to time, as if he’s waiting for someone to walk through the doors.  
  
“Yeah, _right_. I’ll kick whatever ass you guys need me to…”, the captain mumbles, seemingly returning his attention to the leftovers in his plate. “Who’s _Icegorg_ , though?”  
  
“Iceburg”, Franky chuckles. “And don’t worry, Luffy. I can kick his ass myself if need be, but I’d rather focus on myself and my senior year and not reach that point”.  
  
“Right”.  
  
“Ok, Luffy. _Enough_ ”, Nami chastises, inquisitive hazelnut eyes boring into his. Sanji is sitting between them, so he sees the boy’s subtle gulp. “Whatever happened to you at that party? You disappeared for hours, which, you know, _rude_ but expected… Then you show up when we’re about to leave, with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on your face, and today it’s like you’re not even here with us. Is… is everything okay?”  
  
“ _Jeez_ , Nami. You worry so much…”, Luffy laughs his trademark snicker, but a close observer can tell that the hilarity doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I just ended up locked in the bathroom, so when I found you guys I was just very happy to see you…”  
  
Collectively, they pretend they don’t see the way he puckers his lips, or looks to the side as he blatantly _lies_ straight to their faces.  
  
“…And today I’m just tired”, he concludes.  
  
“I must admit that I’m a bit jealous of our missing comrades”, Kaya notes, eyeing the empty chairs on one side of the table. “It took me thirty minutes to get out of bed this morning”.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure they are enjoying their sleep”, Sanji corroborates, lips curling up in a smirk. “That is, if the moss-head didn’t get lost on his way back from Robin-ch _w_ an’s house…”  
  
One of Nami’s perfect orange brows arch knowingly, and he can sense the same mockery coming off in waves even from people who are supposed to be none the wiser. The girl wraps her arm around his, drawing her lips next to his ear to whisper, “I wouldn’t be so sure he even left Robin’s home. They were pretty obvious last night…”  
  
But when she pronounces the last two words it’s not their friends the prince thinks about.  
  
His mind runs to a rainy park, to the scent of the wet wood of the shackle mixed with Nami’s signature perfume, to soft lips and the powerful surge of unbridled acceptance that rushed through him when she kissed him. He never believed life could be quite this sweet.  
  
“ _Ugh_ , thanks for the mental image”, he pouts.  
  
“You’re very welcome, Sanji-kun”, she replies, resting her cheek on his shoulder.  
  
As the two have always been affectionate towards the other, their friends don’t seem to pick up on the recent shift in their relationship, or at least they don’t comment on it, but Franky does clear his throat awkwardly as his brown eyes settle on the pair.  
  
He has somewhat of a sixth sense for these things.   
  
Sanji flashes him an easy smile. He wouldn’t _dare_ hiding the happiness he feels.

* * *

The Straw-Hats curse their bad luck upon stumbling on Eustass Kid on their way back to class. Surrounded by Apoo and Basil, his right-hand man is nowhere to be seen this Tuesday morning, information which is collectively stored away as positive.  
  
Knowing what he did to Sanji’s car, they’d lie if they said they aren’t worried about Killer escalating further, especially now that they have moved past the first round of the school’s tournament.  
  
They have decided not to retaliate, especially as they were busy preparing for the race, but this is the accident they draw the line at. Kid’s favorite ape better find someone else to pick up a fight with, or else the whole crew is ready to step up to the challenge and push back.  
  
For the entirety of her rocky relationship with Eustass, Nami never figured out, not even when things were all fine and dandy between them, why the hell her ex is best friends with someone so despicable. Sure, his father is known to be a controversial character and she can imagine the way he must have been raised, but the boy is almost eighteen, it’s about time he grows out of whatever bullshit views he has of the world.  
  
“If these aren’t my favorite rivals…”, Kid snickers, eyeing suspiciously the hand with which she’s circling Sanji’s bicep as they stand next to one another, the rest of their friends scattered around them. His mouth stretches in a snarl, as Apoo and Basil retreat a couple steps, as if to say that _no_ , _they don’t wish to be a part of whatever is about to go down_ , but they also won’t stop their leader.  
  
His voice is a croaking falsetto as he mimics a conversation she has long since forgotten.  
  
“ _You’re crazy, Eustass, there’s nothing between me and the pathetic Vinsmoke shrimp_ ”.  
  
The laugh that follows is chilling, it makes the masses of people currently dashing through the hallways slow down and listen in intently, some of them downright stop in their tracks.  
  
No Straw-Hat seems intentioned to stop the orange-haired girl from giving her ex a piece of her mind, but they are ready to intervene in case things go downhill. Luffy keeps his eyes trained on their rival, calm but serious, as if to warn him that Nami is not to be trifled with, not if they don’t want to respond for it to him personally, and Sanji is projecting similar vibes.  
  
Without a doubt, the same scowl would be on Zoro’s face if he was here.  
  
“That was two years ago, and honestly I find it a bit _sad_ that you’re still hooked up on it”, she remarks. “But maybe that’s because you finally figured out that no one really cares about you, because you’re just that much of a conceited, insufferable fool. So why don’t you do yourself a favor and avoid us from now on, because I’m sick and tired of your bullshit and I won’t hesitate to go to the police if your _psycho_ friend pulls another stunt…”  
  
Kid covers the distance between them with two long strides, stopping when his snot is too close to her face for her taste. Sanji growls under his breath. The red-haired boy is taller than her, but, somehow, it’s not Nami the one who feels _small_ during their present exchange.  
  
“ _Killer_?”  
  
This is new. She can remember this kind of concern flashing across his face only on a number of occasions, and it was usually directed towards himself or sometimes his family, Nami herself more sparsely, but she can tell his mind is not at ease when it comes to his best pal.  
  
“Yeah, that would be the psycho”, she hisses. “Or didn’t he call you to gloat about it when he slashed Sanji’s tires?”  
  
She relishes in the horror materializing on Apoo’s face, or in the mild amusement Hawkins displays as he carefully lifts a hand in front of his mouth, but it’s Eustass who looks downright terrified, as if this is the first time he hears about it and cannot believe it actually happened.  
  
“He… he did what now?”, he sputters. “You’re lying”.  
  
Despite the circumstances, there’s a bit of pity in Sanji’s blue eyes as he glares at him.  
  
“He was caught on tape. Unless you mean to tell me there’s someone else with the RA’s flag and the words _fuck you_ tattooed on the side of their middle finger? I am not pressing charges this time because I have better things to do with my time, but I suggest you keep your lapdog in check, Kid, since clearly he is losing his grasp on how to live in civilized society”.  
  
It’s Luffy’s turn to step forward, and he pats a hand on his shoulder. The gesture doesn’t seem overtly hostile, but it’s not friendly either.  
  
Dark pupils boring into widened red eyes, he frowns, “That’s not cool, _Jaggy_. I thought you’d believe enough in your potential not to resort to this kind of tactics”.  
  
Apoo and Hawkins are nowhere to be seen by the time the Straw-Hats resume their walk to the class, parting from Usopp and Franky as they make a turn for the other senior class. As they quietly stroll into the room, Tsuru already seated behind the teacher’s desk, Sanji stops her, looking up at her with uncertain eyes.  
  
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”  
  
“I’d love to, Sanji-kun”. Nami smiles brightly, catching him off guard. “For the record, I have never called you a shrimp, or pathetic. I’m not sure what Eustass was aiming for, but even if this never happened…”, she trails off, gesturing at the space between them, “…There’s no way I’m making that mistake again”.  
  
“ _I know_ ”. 

* * *

His right arm is numb, and he is pretty sure there’s _hair_ in his mouth as he hugs the girl from behind with both arms.  
  
She’s not unlike a pillow, but for his body, and her skin smells very good, it sparks something warm in his chest, so much so that Zoro snuggles closer to her, nuzzling her ear with his nose.  
  
 _He could nap like this for the rest of the day_ …   
  
Robin is still fast asleep, breathing quietly next to him on the mattress, and he looks at her for a good five minutes before he eventually decides to return to his slumber.  
  
Long, dark lashes brushing the top of her pale cheeks, her rosy lips slightly curled up in a smile, as if she’s having a particularly pleasing dream, she is the quintessence of peacefulness. Her feet are icicles, and with a sigh he shifts his legs until they are trapped between his calves, so that they can steal some of the warmth they are so desperately missing.  
  
She hums approvingly in her sleep, scouting back until she is nested more deeply in his embrace and Zoro has another mouthful of vanilla-scented hair in his mouth.  
  
He kisses the top of her head, letting his eyelids droop once more.  
  
When he wakes up again one hour later, this time for good, the first thing he perceives is the coldness, the sudden void in his arms, and he doesn’t like how Robin’s absence makes him feel.  
  
Jolting out of bed, it’s with increasing worry that he walks the entire apartment and knocks on every closed door, but with no luck. She’s nowhere to be seen.  
  
Reaching the kitchen, there's a pot of fuming coffee sitting on the kitchen counter, a yellow post-it attached to it where an invitation to make himself comfortable is surrounded by an amount of doodled hearts that would make even the _ero-cook_ ’s pinkest fantasies pale, but prompt him to smile all the same. Folding it neatly, Zoro secures it between the back of his smartphone and its black cover, then helps himself to a generous cup of the dark concoction, hoping it’ll help with the headache he feels brewing around his temples.  
  
It’s been a long time since his last hangover.  
  
Sitting on the barstool, he doesn’t have much to do as he waits, he wouldn’t know where Robin keeps her ibuprofen, anyway, so he checks his phone to see if anyone has been looking for him, finding a message Perona sent him very late last night, asking if he’s okay and sleeping at one of his friends’ houses, to which he replies affirmatively, and one from Nami, in response to which his eyebrows dip low in his forehead.

* * *

> **10** : **06** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _You owe me some girl-talk.  
>   
> _ **13** : **13** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _I think you meant to send this to Robin_.  
>  _And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pry into my business. (:  
>   
> _ **13** : **15** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Bitch, please.  
>  I texted Robin last night. _  
> _Are you two lovebirds free tomorrow night?_  
>   
>  **13** : **16** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Is this a subtle way of telling me you like her more or…?  
>  ‘Cause you’d be right.  
> I’ll ask her when she comes back. _🙄  
>   
>  **13** : **18** \- @ **catburglar  
> ** _AH-AH!  
>  So you’re still with her, uh? ;)  
> And of course I like her more than I like you.  
> I’ve known you for way too long._  
>   
>  **13** : **19** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Why are you asking?_  
>   
>  **13** : **19** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Why I’m asking what?_  
>  _Why you’re still with her?_  
>   
>  **13** : **20** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _If we are free tomorrow night.  
>   
> _ **13** : **22** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _I’d like you and Robin to have dinner with me...  
>  …and Sanji._  
>   
>  **13** : **25** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _LOL.  
>  I take it you gave the poor idiot an answer?  
> It was a yes, wasn’t it?  
>   
> _ **13** : **26** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _He told YOU?!?!?!  
>  Didn’t know you two were such buddies.  
> See, you’re better at girl-talk than you think. _  
>   
> **13** : **27** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _It’s just “talk”._  
>   
>  **13** : **30** \- @ **catburglar**  
>  _Oh, I know.  
>  I just like to ruffle your feathers.  
> Let me know what Robin says and give her a kiss from me.  
> I’m sure you won’t mind. :P_  
>  _p.s. Kizaru was PISSED._

* * *

The key turns inside the lock, the wooden door scraping the floor as it slides open, letting the sound of rain inside the apartment. The boy presses the appropriate button, locking the screen and setting his phone down on the counter, a bit startled by the smile that finds its way to Robin's lips when she notices him sitting in her kitchen.  
  
She takes off her coat and sets aside her shoes, then closes the door behind her. She has her hair up in a ponytail, she’s wearing a simple pair of jeans and a black, fluffy sweater, so while her look is pretty casual, it still makes the green-haired teen a bit self-conscious, considering that he’s sitting on the barstool with just is underwear and a wrinkled t-shirt.  
  
There are two paper bags hanging from her arm, one of which sports the same symbol of the café downstairs. His stomach grumbles when she takes a couple plastic containers out of it.  
  
“I thought you’d be still asleep when I came back, but I figured you’d be hungry”.  
  
She places the other bag in front of him, and he eyes it inquisitively. “What’s that?”  
  
“Just, _umh_ – Since we already skipped class, I wanted to ask you if… if you’d like to spend the rest of the day here with me”, her voice becomes a little lower over the last part, and she tucks a strand of raven hair behind her ear before she resumes with a steadier tone, “So, I bought you some pants. Your costume was _sick_ , but leather is hardly comfortable. I’m not sure I got the size right, but I think you’ll like them more than my shorts”.  
  
He stands up to plant a kiss on her lips. “Thank you”.  
  
A pair of dark grey sweatpants waits for him inside the bag, and he wears it gingerly before they sit down next to one another to eat.  
  
The first part of breakfast goes by silently as their stomachs are finally paid their rightful tribute, although Robin eats slower and way more gracefully than he does.  
  
Halfway through his second cup of coffee, as his brain finally stops aching, he suddenly turns around to tell her about his conversation with Nami, or at least the part where she invited them to have dinner with her and Sanji tomorrow, but he halts when he notices the small speckle of whipped cream smeared on the tip of her nose. Picking up the paper napkin the café put inside the bag, he wipes it away, smiling at her before he finally says, “Nami texted me”.  
  
“You too?”  
  
“ _Uh-uh_. She wants to know if we’re up for dinner tomorrow night”, he explains. “I’ll be training until seven, but I’m up for it if you are”.  
  
“Just you, me and Nami?”, Robin asks, “Does she plan on interrogating us or something?”  
  
“I understand your concerns, but I don’t think that’s the reason”. He takes another sip from the coffee, then adds, “You, me, Nami… and the shitty cook”.  
  
“ _Mh._ Sounds fun”.

* * *

Also _fun_ is spending a lazy afternoon cuddled up on the couch, watching horror films with the purpose of laughing and criticizing their lack of realism – or of characters capable of coherent thought. It’s fun to ignore said movies to focus her attention on the person next to her, because by this point she is quite sure she can’t get _enough_ , even if they're just talking about school and their friends and wondering if everything’s fine.  
  
Nami has texted them again when she got back to class for the last period, and while she tells them not to worry and that everything is fine, the words _Eustass_ and _confrontation_ are thrown around, so the two can’t help but share their far from optimistic thoughts on the issue.  
  
Robin thinks it’s wild that a school rivalry even got to this point, and under the placid stare of their teachers, whilst Zoro doesn’t seem to expect the school to intervene, but is also very confused by the escalation in Killer’s animosity towards Sanji and, by extension, the Straw-Hats.  
  
Whatever’s going on in Killer's head, they agree a professionist should be the one looking into it (and help him).  
  
The television is frequently disregarded in favor of conversation, which is in turn often interrupted by eager lips and wandering hands, but all and all it’s a quiet day they spend in her living room.  
  
When Perona calls around six, hurrying her brother home, it takes a bit longer than they’re both proud to admit to say goodbye and break the spell, but eventually she escorts him to the door, kisses him one last time and watches him leave from the window, frowning slightly as he turns left rather than right. She is pretty sure he lives on the other side of Grand Line City.  
  
Alone with her thoughts, it’s with dumbfounded expression that she pinches her own cheek. While all clues seem to point to it, Robin still can’t believe the past twenty-four hours really happened.  
  
But they did.  
  
She tackled one of her biggest fears, and even though her issue with deep waters is far from cancelled, she is one step closer to its resolution. Besides, the crew now sits on top of the school’s tournament, and she can’t help it but feel happy about her contribution to it.  
  
And then she got _closer_ to the boy she likes in ways that exceeded even her most vibrant expectations, so, overall, the past day turned out to be a win-win type of situation.  
  
She is not used to all this positivity at once, and it scares her.  
  
After years of heartache and essential loneliness, it’s hard to believe the rug won’t be swept from under her feet at some point.  
  
Life isn’t supposed to feel this good, is it?  
  
Robin shakes her head, pushing the thought back where it belongs: her subconscious. She read somewhere that to be happy it’s fundamental to think happy thoughts and, albeit still skeptical about it, giving it a try can’t hurt.  
  
(Her old, well-worn insecurities will still be there _when_ the experiment fails.)  
  
The ring of the doorbell startles her, it’s a loud buzz that echoes throughout the entire house.  
  
It’s deafening and annoying, but it’s quite impossible to miss even when she’s sleeping or under the shower. She isn’t expecting any visits, although there’s a distinct possibility Zoro got _so_ lost he only now backtracked to her apartment, and when she nears the door and aligns her right eye to the peephole, the blood freezes in her veins as she spots the person standing behind it, arms crossed over his chest and scowling in a way that hits a bit too close to home.  
  
She ought to give it to Kuzan. Some things haven’t changed. His timing is still _shit_.

* * *

It’s a breezy evening, the air of November cold and brisk as it laps against the back of the man’s head, blowing over the small rectangle of skin that’s not protected by his dark, curly hair and left exposed by the wide collar of his coat.  
  
He stands on top of the iron staircase, eyes caressing the red bricks, appreciative of the quaint, understated beauty of the building.  
  
Olvia’s daughter has moved to an area of Grand Line City he has always liked, a sort of small town nested in the middle of the metropolis, and his chest clenches painfully as the woman’s name thunders in his mind.  
  
It’s been over two years since his heart was carved out of his body, and he had to learn how to survive on this planet without it. There’s a shuffle of feet behind the closed door, and a delicate, feminine voice lets out a deep, wistful sigh before the engineered wood shifts and it opens.  
  
Kuzan is far too clever to believe he would be _welcome_ , but the expression on the teenager’s face, as Robin rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest, mirroring him, doesn’t hurt any less.  
  
“What do you want?”  
  
Her voice is little more than a hiss as she steps aside, gesturing for him to enter. She sits down on one of the barstools scattered around the kitchen counter, and never invites him to do the same, blue, icy eyes narrowing as she looks up. “Well? I don’t have the whole day”.  
  
“I’d say you have plenty of time to spare, considering you didn’t show up for school today”.  
  
He knows he’s the last person she wants to hear a lecture from, but Saul wouldn’t be notified for a single day of non-attendance, and besides Kuzan knows that he probably wouldn’t be concerned even if the school did indeed send him an e-mail.  
  
But the math professor has a solid guess as to why she missed class today, considering the hardcore ways students celebrate Halloween, especially if they’re fresh out of a victory in the tournament. He graduated from New Marineford himself, he knows how these things go.  
  
More importantly, thanks to Borsalino’s rant over lunchbreak, he is also aware of the other students absent in 5A this morning, so whilst he couldn’t care less why the Nefertari princess didn’t show up, as her records are near perfection, he is concerned about Roronoa’s desertion.  
  
 _Especially_ as he spots the _two_ cups sitting on the counter and the _two_ plates near the sink, and _especially_ after he has found him at Robin’s house in a previous occasion, and in a less than dignified state. Under normal circumstances, the man can’t stand it when his colleagues gossip about the students’ private lives, although he has to admit that sometimes New Marineford seems to be more the setting of a soap opera rather than a school, but in this case he has a great personal investment in the inherent happiness of one of the two parties, and one thing is sure: _he is not good enough for her_.  
  
(Truthfully, he doubts such a person exists.)  
  
“Roronoa didn’t show up either, or so I’ve heard”.  
  
The blush that spreads on her cheeks as she looks away very uncomfortably tells him everything that he needs to know, and while disappointed by the carelessness of their actions, he doesn’t push the matter any further. He is hardly the person she wants to talk with about boys.  
  
(It’s just a flash, a temporary impression, but Kuzan can imagine it all: how things would have been if Olvia’s car didn’t fall into the river that day, or help got there before it was too late; he can picture them sitting by the fire, each holding a book, and whispering excitedly about this or that boy or girl who had caught the teen’s attention, he can see the precision with which Olvia would stroke her hair and hold her in her arms as she cried when she inevitably experienced her first broken heart.  
  
So many things could have happened…  
  
He’s the one who wants to cry when he’s reminded of how much they have missed.)  
  
“I just wanted to know if you’re okay. You said you’d call, and Saul told me he hasn’t heard from you either”. He sits at a couple of barstools of distance, clasping his hand over the granite. He forces a smile. “I also wanted to congratulate you, although I expect you to truly shine on the second task”.  
  
“I am very committed to the team, I know at least that much”, Robin replies, her stare still cold and hard. “I don’t think I would have done it for lesser stakes, or that I would do it again for that matter”.  
  
“The Straw-Hats are an odd bunch, but I’m glad those are the people you are close with. As much as I try to keep myself neutral, it’s impossible not to notice that some students are better human beings than others, or that some of them should be taught basic manners”.  
  
“Then I’m glad the staff notices some of the crazy things that happen in that school and does nothing about it…”, her eyes reduced to slits, she practically growls the final part, thinking of the ridiculous slap on the wrist Killer has received for vandalizing Sanji’s locker.  
  
Although the tire-accident took place in the Baratie’s parking lot, she doubts New Marineford’s high spheres would have done much if it happened on school’s property. It seems they draw the line at physical violence, as if it’s the only way to ruin someone’s life or torment them.  
  
“Most rivalries tend to deflate on their own, and Sakazuki belongs to a long tradition of New Marineford vice-principals who are more concerned with their reputation than the education of their students. Thankfully, he plays by the rules”, Kuzan pauses, scrutinizing her face before continuing, his tone a bit softer, “If anything happens, as I suspect it already did, and it goes against the school’s code, don’t hesitate to tell him. He’ll take care of whomever bothers you or your friends. Or you can come to me, and I’ll get Sengoku to hear your case”.  
  
“I’ll keep that mind, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary”.  
  
A pregnant silence falls upon the room, and it’s far from comfortable.  
  
After a while, Robin clears her throat. “Is that everything?”  
  
“Actually, _no_ ”, the man’s voice grows heavier, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. He’d rather not share this information with her, but he knows that Saul has received the exact same call, and that she’ll be notified no matter what. “The police in Ohara stumbled upon a man who matches the partial fingerprint they found on the safe”.  
  
The hopeful look she shoots him makes him feel hollow inside.  
  
“Do they know where mom’s research is, then?”  
  
Kuzan draws a sharp breath. “No, they don’t. That man was _dead_ ”.

* * *

> **20** : **02** \- @ **santoryu**  
>  _Finally got home.  
>  I had no idea you lived so close to Nami.  
> How’s your night going?_  
>   
>  **20** : **15** \- @ **thedemonchild**  
>  _I don’t live close to Nami at all._ 😘  
>  _  
> Kuzan showed up after you left.  
>  We talked a little.   
> What about you?  
>   
> _ **20** : **17** – @ **santoryu**  
>  _I’m on my way_.

* * *

As far as first dates go (and by first date, Vivi means that this is the first time someone asks her out and she says _yes_ and the date _actually_ happens), this one is perfect.  
  
Even if she wanted to find something wrong in his choice of location, the place they ate at, the activities he planned for the evening, she couldn’t.  
  
It’s a bit _cheesy_ , perhaps, that they’re inside the same mall complex where the milkshake mishap happened almost a month ago, or that he just treated her to the best smoothie of her life under the knowing, heart-shaped eyes of the old barista she met on that occasion.  
  
Dinner has required quite a bit of effort on her belly’s part to be finished, and her mind still can’t conceive the amount of tacos the boy sitting across from her has ordered and consumed, now helping himself to the cookies Kokoro has added to their order, muttering something about the cookies being on the house, and herself amazed by the ' _blaze of young love_ '…  
  
Vivi bites back a chuckle, thinking she would get along with Sanji effortlessly.  
  
They haven’t talked directly about the fact they are actually on a date, that there’s some romantic intent simmering in the air between them, or the touches they exchanged the night before, but she can’t help but feel that there must be a reason if he brought her back to this place of all the establishments here, and the conclusion she reaches spontaneously every time she asks herself the question melts little by little the ice around her heart.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, getting the old lady on his case is just a way to show her, between the lines, that he doesn’t plan on _toying_ with her feelings, that if he invited her here today it’s because there’s something about her he genuinely likes. Not quite a declaration of intent, as they have been talking to each other for barely a month and this is, once again, their first date, but a promise of _honesty_.  
  
No matter how things progress from here on out, she can count on Ace telling it as it is.  
  
He slurps loudly from his cup, fidgeting with the red plastic straw, but that’s about the only sign of nervousness he displays. Unlike boys her age, he seems at ease even as the present circumstances call for awkwardness.  
  
“I’m glad you agreed to go out with me today”, he admits, flashing her a grin just a little less bright than the sun. It lights up his entire face, freckles the color of autumn leaves dancing as his cheekbones stretch to accommodate his smile. “The more we talked, the more I thought about it… I wanted to ask you properly for a date that day at the movies, but I guess it all worked out in the end. I didn’t peg you for the _jealous_ type…”  
  
“I wasn’t jealous!”, she gasps, clutching at pearls she isn’t wearing. “It’s just…”, Vivi hesitates, not sure whether it’s appropriate to share a certain anecdote with him.  
  
She only ever told this to Nami and Vivi, and more recently Robin, too, but whilst her friends have been amazingly supportive, she wouldn’t want Ace to think she’s a weirdo. She has recently discovered that she rather likes this boy – well, she supposes he’s almost a man, since he’ll turn twenty-two next January.  
  
Perhaps it’s his age, despite her strong liking for his sunny personality, that makes her uncertain. He probably thinks all her problems are childish _bullshit_ …  
  
“A couple of years ago, someone I liked back home asked me out… Only my then best friend knew about my crush for him, but she kept the secret for years, so I had no reason to suspect she would… Anyway, he was supposed to be my date for a big event, but he never showed up, and he went to the party with my friend, instead. I think they’re still together”.  
  
Several emotions flash across his dark orbs, but it’s anger which dominates.  
  
“That’s awful, Vivi…”, Ace puts his hand of top of hers, speaking each word with convincing pathos. “ _Jeez_ , what kind of screwed up place is Alabasta? Crocodile and the attempted kidnapping and now this… You desert-landers need to _fucking_ chill”.  
  
“I wish I could tell you, but truth is that I am mostly relegated at the palace whenever I visit home, even more so since last spring… Although I suppose the country would be technically safe now that Crocodile is here in Grand Line City”.  
  
“Anyways, I’d never do something like… _That_ ”.  
  
Vivi flips her hand over, squeezing his gently. “I know”, she smiles softly, looking down at their joined limbs. “It’s one of the reasons I said yes. Besides, my friends would _kill_ you”.  
  
Ace chuckles. “Including my brother”.  
  
“ _Yup_ ”. The princess sips elegantly from her cup, then tilts her head to the side, repeating, “Including your brother”.

* * *

The question lingers on the back of his mind until much later, grey car already parked in front of the fancy hotel Vivi lives at, when it rolls spontaneously out of his tongue.  
  
“What were the other reasons?”  
  
“What were the other reasons for what?”  
  
“Why you said yes”, he clarifies, looking away momentarily as he tries to get a hold of himself.   
  
Isn’t he supposed to be the older, more mature one?  
  
 _Why the hell is he blushing like a schoolgirl?_  
  
“Why did you ask me out?”  
  
Normally Ace would point out that he asked first, and that it's impolite to answer a question with another, but considering what the princess shared with him earlier he feels compelled to expose himself first. He has been rejected a handful of times in his life, not that many, as a matter of fact, but other than that he doesn’t associate the practice of dating with something so traumatic.  
  
(He wants to strangle that Alabastan dude. And ask Koala to take care of the best friend, too.)  
  
He adjusts himself more comfortably in the driver’s seat, tucking a strand of blue hair behind her ear as he goes, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, since about the time you guys left for Mystoria, and I have to admit that the fact you’re one of Luffy’s friends deterred me for a little…”  
  
Vivi stares intently at him, brown eyes burning with something akin to trust, and he likes how it tastes on his tongue.  
  
“As for why, it all boils down to the fact that I really enjoy talking to you. I think you’re funny and… Well, I think you’re very pretty, too”.  
  
He clears his throat awkwardly after he has said his piece, a bit disheartened by her reaction of sheer surprise. He can’t believe such an amazing girl is so unfamiliar with compliments.  
  
“ _Your turn_ ”.  
  
“I guess I enjoy talking to you, too”, she admits after a while, her rosy face turning several shades darker, “…And you’re probably the _funniest_ person I’ve ever met”.  
  
With each word the princess leans a bit closer to him, but Ace isn’t sure the move is entirely deliberate on her part. He can feel her warm breath on his lips as it glides out of her parted ones, and something wicked must twinkle in his eyes, because he can see it reflected in Vivi’s.  
  
“Am I not pretty, then?”, he pouts, head tilted slightly to the side.  
  
Such proximity makes his mind run wildly, revisit what transpired between them last night, and it’s only by drawing a hideously sharp breath that he stops himself from kissing her again. It’s just a hunch, but Vivi looks about to kiss him herself, just like she did at the party, at least the first time, and he decides that the gentlemanly thing to do is to let her decide whether their date warrants a goodnight kiss rather than throw one at her.  
  
He just hopes she’ll agree to go out with him a second time.  
  
Ace doesn’t know what it is about her that drives him quite this crazy, but there’s an uncompromising quality about her that puts him in a state of awe every time they interact, so much so that he doesn’t care how he promised years ago that he would never get involved with one of Luffy’s friends, no matter how beautiful, witty, or generally pleasant to be around they turned out to be.  
  
He regrets nothing, though.  
  
“Actually, I think you’re really, _really_ pretty”.   
  
And then Vivi's lips are on his. 

* * *

The basement is the perfect place where one can gather with some friends, smoke cigars without sparking his wife’s wrath and laugh good-heartedly with his colleagues, often at the expense of the students in their care.  
  
Sengoku looks hopefully at the cards he was just dealt, and then tries not to showcase his internal disappointment. Gulping down the last of his whisky, he folds before the game can even begin.  
  
“ _Ugh_ , that bad?”, pipes up Garp’s voice on his right, followed by Tsuru’s chuckle.  
  
Back when the bi-weekly poker tournament tradition started, it had been a three people’s experience.  
  
“God, thirty years that we play together and you still can't _bluff_ to save your life”.  
  
Sengoku may not be a convincing liar, but Tsuru is too much of a smug winner. From the way one wrinkled corner of her mouth curls slightly upward, he can tell she has a good hand. Garp seems to pick up on that, too, because he leaves the game as soon as the third card is revealed - from the way she scoffs at the cards while folding, it isn't the one she wanted.  
  
Fujitora follows them suit, showing the table an enigmatic smile, and so the match is disputed by the younger members of the small circle that reunites in the principal’s house once every two weeks: Hina and Smoker, and the three people the students jokingly call the _Admirals_ because they have all served in the Marines and demand from their students a discipline that’s typically associated with military training.  
  
The vice-principal studies his adversaries in silence, then doubles the stakes. Hina and Borsalino chicken out.  
  
The latter gulps down his drink in one sitting, calling out to no one in particular, “Next time you get a Jack, take a good look at it. Put a curly brow on it, and tell me if it’s not a carbon copy of the Vinsmoke boy”.  
  
“Don’t be so hard on him”, Tsuru admonishes him playfully, “We have all had, and still do, way worse students than Vinsmoke Sanji. If it weren’t for the name, one wouldn’t be able to associate someone as sweet as him with that family. For example, take your grandson, Garp. I swear, your boy is _adorable_ outside of class, but from an academical standpoint? He’s a nightmare!”  
  
“Not that his, _uh_ , _brothers_ weren’t”, Sakazuki supplies, tight-lipped, now busy in a one on one with Smoker. “But yeah, rumor has it Luffy has been spending quite some time in the library, recently, although he surely didn’t use it to improve his grade in my subject”.  
  
Sengoku doesn’t like the snarl on his lips as he talks of the students, but he remembers how stressed _he_ was when he had Sakazuki's job, teaching classes and simultaneously making sure the whole school ran smoothly as vice-principal, so he usually cuts him some slack when they meet privately, as long as his personal dislike for some students doesn’t translate in unfair treatment.  
  
Fujitora laughs, helping himself to another glass of whisky. “If we want to discuss rumors, Sakazuki-san, perhaps we should discuss the one claiming that one of your pupils, Mr. Lucci, screamed at his girlfriend in the hallway yesterday”.  
  
“This is the first time I hear of such a…”  
  
“ _Ops_ , my bad”, the geography professor sighs, scratching the back of his head and feigning innocence. “That actually happened in front of me”.  
  
“Mr. Lucci has been under a lot of pressure lately because of the tournament, I’m sure it was just a little _lovers’ quarrel_ ”, the other replies, lips pressed in a thin line that suggests he does not wish to explore the topic any further.  
  
“I, for one, don’t like Mr. Lucci at all”, chimes in Hina, spitefully, setting down her cigar on the ash-tray and scowling at Smoker when he steals a couple blows from it. “That boy has no eye for beauty. He completes his assignments somewhat decently, I suppose, but discussing art with him it’s like hitting both of my knees repeatedly with an iron bar. Painful and a waste of time and energy”.  
  
“Want to know who _I_ find creepy?”, barks Smoker, folding at last and glaring at the vice-principal as he drags his winnings to his side of the table. “Trafalgar Law. I don’t trust someone who wears that much eyeliner, boy or girl”.  
  
“If we want to talk about creepy, then how come Eustass Kid hasn’t come up yet?”, asks Tsuru, pumping a fist in the air. “His father’s a _murderer_!”  
  
“Allegedly”, someone corrects. Justice hasn’t spoken yet.  
  
“Are we playing _shoot the senior_ or something?”  
  
Kuzan sets the glass down with a dull clink, fixing his colleagues with a stern glare. He thinks there’s something exceptionally wrong with the way they sometimes talk about the students, as if they aren’t even human beings, but rather _demons_ whose only purpose in life is to make _theirs_ miserable.  
  
Why did half of these people pick teaching as a career?  
  
He chose this path as the quickest out of Ohara, a way to numb the pain that wakes up next to him every morning since Olvia died, and even _he_ can see that there’s more to the teens entrusted to their care than what educators like Sakazuki, who were raised without a shred of empathy, or old, hardened professors like Tsuru, who have lost it somewhere along the way, think there is.   
  
But he knows this is hardly the right context to delve into such ethical concerns, and that it’s best if he keeps his personal opinions to himself, least he gets some of his more meddlesome colleagues on his case. With a peacemaker laugh, he adds, “If we must play unfavorites, though… There’s only one student we should keep a close eye on, and that’s Killer in 5B”.  
  
“Relax, Kuzan”, Borsalino pats a good-natured hand on his shoulder. “We only talk about the seniors because they’ll leave us soon and then we won’t be able to bet on whatever unlikely pairs of horny teenagers will get caught making out in the broom’s closet”.  
  
“Not that the younger ones are any better, anyway”, remarks Hina. “I found Morgan’s son tormenting one of his classmates last week. Even had the audacity to threaten _me_ when I gave him detention. Someone should tell him that his daddy’s reputation isn’t quite what it used to be. Not that it would have just justified the words he was using to address that poor boy, but I swear, the _brat_ is completely detached from reality…”  
  
Sengoku can’t help but snicker over the last part, considering he has listened to Helmeppo’s self-deluded dreams of grandiosity himself when the art professor dragged him to his office to discuss a potential suspension. “With a father like Morgan, I’m surprised he didn’t turn out much worse”.  
  
“Why are you getting so worked up, Kuzan?”, asks Sakazuki, eyeing his rival. “It’s not like we’re shooting for your _baby girl_ , are we? As a matter of fact, I am quite impressed by her grades”.  
  
The room freezes as the giant elephant in the room is finally addressed after two months of roundabout jokes.  
  
Everyone knows it, after all.  
  
The math professor delivered Nico Robin’s transfer request personally last spring, and while Sengoku is the only one who has been told the whole story, or at least the major points of it, it didn’t take long for the rest of the teachers to connect the dots and recognize the girl’s surname.  
  
Before he even started working at New Marineford, Kuzan had been a phenomenal student, a rightful genius in his field, and, for years, he had been engaged to the infamous archaeologist, Nico Olvia, whose death had then prompted him to accept the position Sengoku had been offering him for ten years. While they never thought much of the fact the woman had had a child from a previous relationship, coming this September, as they became her professors, his colleagues also grew very interested in learning more about her relationship with her former step-father.  
  
Kuzan Aokiji is perhaps the one member of the staff who talks the least about his personal life, very polite but equally as reserved, if not even more so.  
  
It’s strange to think of him as anything other than a rigorous, discipline-loving professor, but as a… fatherly figure?  
  
Well, that’s just _wild_.  
  
“I wouldn’t have filed her request if I didn’t think Robin has what is necessary to graduate from our school”. The math professor is usually a master at keeping his emotions under check, frigid as only ice can be, but Sengoku can still spot the tightness in his facial muscles, or the slight snap in his voice. “I’m sure she won’t cause any kind of trouble, she’s a very judicious girl”.  
  
“She’s the tall one with the dark hair and the bangs, right?”, inquires Smoker, gesturing in front of his forehead before dealing a new round of cards.  
  
More than one person nods in reply.  
  
“She seems a lot quieter than the rest of her bunch, although I’m not sure _judicious_ is the word I’d use to describe someone who canoodles right in front of my office’s window”.  
  
There’s laughter stuck in the back of his throat, but he gulps it down when Hina swats his thigh under the table. He is renowned for being passionate and often impolite when he discusses the students, which is very ironic since he is the person who has the least contact with them out of all the people in the room.  
  
“Seriously, though? _Roronoa_?”  
  
“I can’t believe it!”, explodes Borsalino, slamming his fists on the table in his impromptu burst of hilarity. Sakazuki drinks from his glass as if he has just been told he won the lottery.  
  
Kuzan looks as if he has just swallowed a whole toad.  
  
“ _Oh. My. God_. You knew about this!”  
  
“Yes, Hina”, the man sighs, looking away uncomfortably. “I was mildly aware of a relationship between them. But I tend not to be concerned by what the students do in their free time, as long as they stay focused on their studies”.   
  
“But she’s not just a student, is she?”, she prods, voicing the question everyone is thinking. “I mean, isn’t she your…”  
  
“My _what_ , exactly?”  
  
“Your step-daughter”, chimes in Sakazuki. “Weren’t you about to marry her mother when she died in that tragic accident? That must have been so hard on that poor girl, but I’m sure she had all the support she needed…”  
  
The insinuation hangs heavily in the air, as a vein in Kuzan’s forehead threatens to _pop_.  
  
Sengoku follows it intently with his eyes, apologizing mentally before throwing his oldest friend under the bus for the sake of a civil work environment.  
  
“They aren’t the oddest match this senior year has produced thus far”, he points out, turning to Garp. “I saw your boy this morning as I took my usual stroll near the tennis court…”  
  
There’s a pregnant pause, as the principal recalls the way he saw him jumping around a much stiller, less joyful boy as he talked excitedly to him. He looked away when they kissed.  
  
“Rosinante’s son, _uh_?”  
  
“ _Eh_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so part two begins. This chapter was a bit Ace/Vivi-centric, I know, but as I progressed in the story I found myself liking them more and more, so I thought I'd give them some space (as I probably will in the future). The professors playing poker were probably my favorite part, if only because I imagined Kuzan wanting to smash Akainu's face (he's such a dick, although, technically, his last statement wasn't _wrong_ ). I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and if you stuck with me until now (and plan to continue) I thank you from the bottom of my heart! 💖💖💖 Have an amazing day/night! 💖


	26. River Deep, Mountain High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which a double-date gives Sanji the opportunity to prove how much of a good friend he is, Garp considers his past mistakes as he tries to avoid making new ones, and Law and Luffy have a cozy little gather-up.

**THE FOLLOWING DAY**.

The traffic is smooth today, as if the frosty weather has kept many people from venturing out of their homes, but at least it stopped raining.  
  
The blond keeps his eyes trained on the road, following the saccharine voice of the AI as the navigator tells him when to turn right and when to turn left.  
  
The radio is synched on his favorite station, they are playing a selection of what they have called _powerful love ballads_ , and while Sanji was hoping they would improve his mood, in reality the sorrowful tunes are only exacerbating his already crippling anxiety.   
  
One thing is to cook dinner for Nami-swan and have a dinner date with her, and honestly he wouldn’t mind if Robin-chwan decided to join them, but throw the moss-head in the mix and you got yourself a fidgety chef who is not sure how to behave.  
  
For once, it’s not even about the swordsman bringing forth his worst instincts. He just doesn’t know how to bear the comparison. As much as Sanji hates to admit it, he seems to know what he’s doing somehow, because he has never seen Robin _unhappy_ when he’s around.  
  
Himself, however – he can remember more than one occasion in which he has been the one to ruin Nami’s mood, albeit never on purpose.  
  
But they had a great time yesterday at her house ( _haven’t they_?), so he tries to focus on that as he covers the final mile with his newly repaired car. He’d rather have the double-date Nami seems to care so much about with Kaya and Usopp, in all honesty, but he supposes it makes sense that they’re hanging out with Robin and Zoro instead, as they are technically the only two people who know about their relationship, and Nami made it a point that she wants to tell them first.  
  
(Arguably, though, with the way those two were dancing at Drake’s party, there’s no way to know how longer it’ll be before people start talking, and the rumor starts running that the new girl and the seemingly unavailable, green-headed _monstrosity_ some girls seem to dig for reasons unknown to Sanji, are, indeed, an item.)  
  
In less than five minutes he is parked in front of Nami’s house and, although it takes him some time to greet her properly, with kisses so long and soft they make him want to bail on their friends, in less than twenty they are standing in front of Robin’s apartment.  
  
“Thank you for doing this”, Nami says out of the blue, squeezing his arm as she rests her head on his shoulder. “I know this double-date thing it’s a silly fantasy, but I couldn’t have done it with Eustass, not without compromising my relationship with Kaya and Usopp forever, so, _thank you_ ”.  
  
The door shuts open before he can reply, but even the marimo’s ugly snot as it appears before him can't stop Sanji from smiling with everything he has.  
  
He’d be willing to dine with the bastard every day if it really means this much to her. 

* * *

“…Conis wasn’t able to tell me what prompted the fight, but it would appear Lucci threw some pretty crazy accusations at Kalifa. Now, you know I’d throw the _bitch_ under the bus at any given moment…”, Nami pauses, to let her point better come across.  
  
From the way Robin winces at her words, she has been updated on her years-old feud with their blonde classmate.  
  
“…But Kalifa would never, and I’m willing to bet my _money_ on it, _never_ cheat on him. Even though she probably should”.  
  
“Dude was out of his mind”, supplies Zoro, who the other day got lost on his way to the gymnasium and watched the scene unfold before his very eyes. “Like, completely out of line. Luckily, Fuijtora stepped in and Kaku dragged him away”.  
  
“Are we sure she’s _safe_ at this point?”, Sanji muses out loud. “I mean, she’s far from my favorite lady, but I wouldn’t wish Rob Lucci on a freaking rock”.  
  
“They seemed fine to me at Drake’s party”.  
  
There’s a crease on Nami’s forehead as she ponders the boy’s words. As much as she dislikes the girl, she wouldn’t rejoice if something bad happened to her.  
  
Especially if it involves her sociopath of a boyfriend.  
  
“ _Ugh_ , I mean… As fine as you can be when your cosplay of Joker and Harley Quinn doesn’t look like a cosplay at all”.  
  
Her eyes then settle on the other girl in the room, perched on the sofa next to Zoro.  
  
She can’t help but notice that they gravitate closer to one another than usual, although the same can be said of Sanji and her. Not that she’s itching to put a label on it, but she just can’t picture herself having something casual, not with _him_.  
  
She couldn’t kiss the best person she knows and avoid catching feelings, especially when those feelings have already found a home in her heart a long time ago, and survived despite her prolonged, stubborn efforts to eradicate them.  
  
Robin often keeps quiet when they discuss their schoolmates, as if her perspective is automatically invalidated by the fact she has moved to New Marineford only two months ago, but Nami always looks forward to her opinion. More often than not, she’s far more objective in her take on things.  
  
“What do you think, Robin?”  
  
Dark eyes widen slightly as her friend straightens her posture, wheels turning in her mind as she elaborates her answer. “I can’t say I’ve ever had a proper conversation with either of them, to be honest, but I’m not a big fan, I guess”, she frowns. “As for their relationship, well, he gives off extremely _toxic_ vibes. Personally, I think Kalifa should dump him and date Kaku instead”.  
  
“He has the biggest crush on her, doesn’t he?”, Nami smiles knowingly.  
  
Zoro deadpans. “He does?”  
  
“You really don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you, moss-head?”  
  
“Did _you_ know, dartboard-brow?”  
  
“Well, _no_ , but–”  
  
Nami clears her throat somewhat sharply. “ _Anyway_. I always thought Kaku was the better match, too. At least he treats her like an actual human being”.  
  
Beers are opened, a movie picked out from Robin’s collection, but no one really pays any attention to it. Talking is way more entertaining, or at least during the first half, before the dark-haired girl notices her friends holding hands in the other sofa, and immediately nudges Zoro lightly in the ribs, who then turns around and snickers at the pair. “Took you long enough”.  
  
“Care to tell us how _that_ happened?”, Robin asks.  
  
“Well, you see, Robin-ch _w_ an… Nami accepted to go out with me, making me the luckiest man on earth, and she was adamant you’d be the first people we share the news with”.  
  
“The news being?”, Zoro arches one eyebrow, mockingly.  
  
“That he asked me out on a second date, and I said yes to that, too”.  
  
“I am very happy for you guys”, the other girl chimes in. “To be fair, I did believe you two were a couple for the first two hours of school or so in September”.   
  
“Ah, that’s so sweet, Robin-ch _w_ an!”  
  
The swordsman eyes his orange-haired friend skeptically. “Seriously, Nami? This dude?”, he chuckles, reaching forward to clink their beer bottles together before he hides his mouth behind his, gulping down a large sip. “Ah, well. Congratulations, I suppose. Whatever makes you happy”.  
  
Nami shows him a grateful smile.  
  
Out of all her friends, Zoro’s was the reaction that terrified her the most.  
  
Not that her friends get a say in whom she dates – they didn’t when she was with Eustass, they most certainly don’t do now – but she values their opinions.  
  
Them speaking against her relationship would surely lead to a lot of over-thinking and bad feelings on her part, and that’s not the way she wants to approach her blossoming connection to the chef.  
  
But Zoro seems fine with it, like he was expecting this, actually, and she’s glad to know that she and Sanji, despite the boys’ rivalry, have his support.  
  
It’s not necessary, but it’s nice to have, nonetheless.  
  
And now she can finally focus on that double-date she always fantasized about.

* * *

Nami laughs heartily, a loud and juvenile sound, the moment she and Zoro are left alone as their partners go scout the attic in Robin’s apartment for board games.  
  
Of course, as she is the one who suggested the idiot cook should help her rather than him, he is perfectly aware of what’s about to happen. Anything the _witch_ does is deliberate and thoroughly considered, especially when it comes to poking her nose into her friends’ businesses.  
  
“So, Zoro…”, she trails off, sitting next to him. There’s a knowing glint in her eyes as she props her head up on one hand, staring at the swordsman as if she has just cornered him in the best trap she ever crafted. “Alone at last”.  
  
“ _Uh_?”  
  
He’ll be _damned_ if he caves before she even exposes her true intentions.  
  
“I couldn’t help but notice how _cozy_ you two have been looking in the past few days. I’m pretty sure Franky has noticed, too”, she says, twirling her orange ponytail around one finger. “I know you slept here on Halloween, but Robin won’t tell me _shit_. She just gets all mysterious and blushing and…”  
  
She pauses, hazelnut orbs widening as they land on his face.  
  
“… _Oh. My. God_. You’re doing that too!”  
  
“What makes you think _I_ ’ll talk?”, he rebukes, staring back with a stern expression.  
  
Sure, he knows this is one of those rare instances where Nami wants information not to use it as ammunition, but rather to check whether those dear to her are happy, but he also knows that he is not comfortable discussing his private affairs with her (or anyone, for that matter).  
  
Some people do that and it’s fine, he supposes, he just doesn’t want to talk about sex, not in a reminiscing, descriptive sense, anyway, with someone other than the person he did it with.  
  
“Fair point”, she mumbles, looking away with a sigh. It’s not _details_ that she’s after. “Look, Zoro, I only want to… It’s just… I’ve never seen you so happy, okay? I can’t quite put my finger around it, _yet_ , but you’re like a better version of yourself or something when she’s around. Like, you don’t even antagonize Sanji all that much anymore… What I mean is, I am absolutely rooting for you guys, but I’m also a bit… _worried_ , I guess? I don’t want _either_ of you to get hurt, and since you spent more time with her than anybody else in the crew, I don’t think you need _me_ to tell you that Robin clearly has some trust issues she is still working on…”   
  
The green-haired teen doesn’t reply but acknowledges the last statement with a frown.  
  
It’s pretty clear, for those who are close to Nico Robin, just how hard it is for her to put her faith in someone other than herself – and sparingly at that. They would both like nothing more than to march to Aokiji’s house and slap him in the face for the way his insensitivity has messed up her view of life and human relationships, but they know that it is not their battle to fight.  
  
They can lend her a hand, they can be supportive, they can reassure her, but, ultimately, it’s up to the girl who was left behind to realize that she did _not_ deserve it.  
  
“…I guess I just want to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself”.  
  
“ _Ah_ ”.  
  
He wasn’t expecting this, not from Nami.  
  
Mentioning Tashigi is a low blow.  
  
Besides from Luffy, she’s the only person who truly knows why it never worked between them, and how awful he has felt for letting things spiral and not breaking up the first time he had stumbled upon the idea that, perhaps, he hadn’t been into Tashigi as much as she had been into him.  
  
Nami _knows_ he would never let something like that happen again, and with a member of the crew at that. Or at least _she should_.  
  
“That was over a year ago”, he says in a low voice, careful to keep their conversation private in case Robin and the ero-cook are on their way back from the attic. “Besides, _unlike someone_ , I needed only one public, humiliating breakup to learn something from my mistakes”.  
  
An eye for an eye, and _yet_ it does not make him feel any better.  
  
Nami overlooks his not-so-subtle jab at her relationship with her ex, lips pressed in a tight line.  
  
“Just be careful, okay?”, she insists. “Honestly, I think Robin has been doing a lot better since she met us, and I mean, _how couldn’t she_ , but she still gets super quiet and gloomy out of the blue sometimes. I swear, it’s like she is _terrified_ of being happy. Or worse, like she feels _guilty_ about it”.  
  
Zoro heaves a deep breath as he digests her words.  
  
He can’t say he hasn’t come to the same conclusions before.  
  
(While this whole conversation feels a bit _offensive_ , he is glad he isn’t the only person in Robin’s corner, and that Nami seems so protective of her. With a friend like her, she is settled for life.)  
  
“I’m not sure what you want to hear from me exactly, but this is not and has never been a game to me. I obviously can’t promise you that we’ll never fight, or that I’ll never do something that irritates her, but I am not planning on _leaving_. As long as she’ll have me, anyway”.   
  
The orange-haired girl eyes him with a thoughtful look, then her cheek muscles relax, her lips stretching in a contagious grin. “You know what? _Love_ looks good on you”.  
  
He doesn’t own it, but he doesn’t refute it either.  
  
The word doesn’t taste quite as foreign as he expected on his tongue.  
  
_Love_.  
  
He wouldn’t say he is quite there _yet_ , but that’s the direction he is headed.  
  
Zoro snorts. “The same goes for you, Nami- _swan_ ”.  
  
He ducks to the side, laughing, when a pillow almost hits him square in the face. 

* * *

The attic is dusty, illuminated by a single light bulb, the air thick and stale with humidity. Robin has been inside the room only once before, to drop the many paper boxes she still hasn’t summoned the courage to unpack, and, truthfully, she doubts she’d be here now if she didn’t have company.  
  
The place is so dark and eerie even someone as morbid as her feels uncomfortable in it, and she’s glad there’s Sanji by her side as she carefully sorts through different boxes, disregarding the newer-looking ones and focusing on those she filled about two years ago, heartbroken and ready to put as much distance between herself and Ohara as possible.  
  
Tearing apart yet another string of brown adhesive tape, she misses the small scribble on the bottom left corner of the box she is currently inspecting, which reads _Memories_. If she took the time to glance down at it, she would see the tearstain blurring two of the letters together.  
  
Unfortunately, she doesn’t.   
  
She remembers the day she placed the photo albums at the bottom and then carefully piled the frames on top of each other, as Saul patted her back (and cried _with_ her), asking for the umpteenth time if she truly was convinced that the Institute in Alabasta was her next best step.  
  
Her knees almost yield under her jolt of surprise, eyes widened and glazed over as they stare down at Olvia’s smile, a finger running instinctively to stroke her light blonde hair above the glass.  
  
The woman is holding a younger version of Robin in her arms, both grinning at the camera as they stand in front of her favorite spot in the vineyard.  
  
The picture was taken on her ninth birthday, and Kuzan the one to immortalize their joy – if she concentrates hard enough, she can still hear what all of their laughs together sounded like.   
  
“Robin, are you… Are you okay?”, concern laces Sanji’s voice, as he even drops the customary “-ch _w_ an” to get the point across sooner.  
  
He isn’t standing very far from her, so it takes but a stride for the boy to be by her side.  
  
“Robin?”  
  
She doesn’t move, nor does she breathe, eyes still glued to the picture. It brings back so many emotions all at once, she isn’t quite sure how to process them.  
  
Sanji leans forward to peep into the box, brows furrowed at the devoted way she’s caressing the photo. When her hand finally moves out of the way, and the adult woman with beautiful snow-kissed hair turns out to be just an older version of his friend, it doesn’t take too long for him to put two and two together. He recognizes _nostalgia_ when it so blatantly slaps him in the face.  
  
Placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing supportively, the chef asks in a lower voice, “That’s your mom?”  
  
The sympathy is subtle in his tone but soothing enough to get her out of her daze.  
  
Taking the small silver frame out of the box, Robin wipes the surface clean with her sleeve, and smiles tentatively at her friend as she pushes the photo in his hands.  
  
“Yeah. I… At first, I wasn’t ready to look at them, and then even the random stray picture in a paper became too much, so I always postponed. But I think I’ll bring that one downstairs”.  
  
The more she talks, the more her voice trembles, and if she were alone, then she would have probably started crying five minutes ago. Her smile must look very forced, seeing that it makes Sanji’s dip into a sad line. “It’s okay if you don’t feel ready yet. I can wrap this thing back together for you and we can move on to the next box”.  
  
Robin just covers its contents with the paper lids once more, reattaching the tape the best she can, and turns around to look him in the face. Bad mistake. That’s too much.  
  
Understanding burns fiercely in her friend’s eyes as his, too, get a bit watery. Or so she thinks, it’s hard to see from behind the blurry layer of tears that’s pooling over her lower lashes.  
  
Sanji knows how she feels, there’s nowhere she can hide.  
  
Briefly, she wonders what Zoro and Nami will think when she returns with bloodshot eyes and a tearstained face.  
  
Then her restraint collapses, and warm, thick drops plow their way down her cheekbones, her nose growing stiff until she eventually breathes through jagged gasps.  
  
“I just miss her so much”, she wails, not unlike a child would, pleading and stubborn.  
  
That’s understandable. He has been that kid. He _is_ that kid.  
  
It breaks Sanji’s heart a little to know there’s nothing he can do to make her feel better, not on the long term. But what he can do, and modestly all his lady friends agree, he is the best at it, is offer her a shoulder to cry on. Hoping the marimo won’t kneecap him if he finds out about it, the chef wraps both arms around her shoulders, patting the back of her head gently.  
  
“It’s fine, Robin”, he murmurs. “Just let it all out”.  
  
His kindness only makes her sniffles more intense, and she’s grateful she isn’t wearing any make-up today, or else his baby-blue shirt would be permanently ruined. The fabric smells fresh and clean, and a bit of Nami’s signature scent lingers on it, which she appreciates, because she always finds it oddly comforting.  
  
Two minutes pass, or perhaps it’s a little more, and she can tell he is crying too, albeit more composedly, as if he has turned his grief into an art – when she eventually pulls away, she smiles gratefully at the handkerchief he pulls out of his pocket and offers to her.  
  
She wipes away her tears, then trains her eyes to his face, noting that his smile looks just as broken and rehearsed as hers sometimes does. “Yours too, _uh_?”  
  
Sanji stares at the tips of his fancy shoes, and it’s like looking into a mirror as several emotions flash across his face. Then, quite unexpectedly, he settles on heartfelt acceptance.  
  
Whipping his phone out of the back pocket ( _seriously, how many pockets do boys get? It’s unfair_ ) of his jeans, he looks for something in his gallery, then flips the device around to show her a picture.  
  
“ _Here_. Her name was Sora…”

* * *

The duo scrambles their way downstairs ten minutes later and, when they enter the living room, they find Zoro and Nami mocking a fight on the sofa, laughing as they try to smother the other with one pillow per hand. The swordsman holds one in his mouth, too, but Nami’s swift kick promptly disposes of it.  
  
Zoro is the first to react, dropping his weapons and standing up so that he can skirt in his girlfriend’s direction and pull her into a hug. She feels a bit upset in his arms, clutching at the back of his shirt as she struggles to balance something in her other hand.  
  
Pulling away to check her face, he is welcomed by the sight of very puffy eyes, her eyelashes clumped together, an unmistakable shade of red clouding her nostrils.  
  
He turns sharply in the ero-cook’s direction and, well, whilst he knows that he probably looks like a brainless idiot, he pushes out his chest and exploits every inch he has on the blond to glare down at him. “Really, _dartboard-brow_? You made her _cry_?”  
  
At first it’s just a hunch, as Sanji stares back at him as if he’s the dumbest person on the planet, but then it turns into a nagging suspicion when Nami climbs out the couch and sneaks behind him, reaching Robin and letting out a sorrowful “ _Oh_ ” when she props her hand on her friend’s shoulder and trains her eyes on the framed picture she is holding.  
  
Nami smirks viciously at him before she snatches the token, albeit gently, from Robin’s hands, handing it to Zoro as she mouths the words “You stupid _fuck_ ”.  
  
It takes about one look to know he has messed up, immensely so.  
  
It just made him feel so awful to see her so sad, so while maybe the cook isn’t the one who made her cry, he is still somewhat responsible for letting it happen.  
  
No, not even that works.  
  
Who is obviously Robin’s mom seems to be judging him, too, behind her cheerful smile.  
  
_Oh_ – indeed.   
  
“ _Fuck_. I am so sorry”. Eyes darting between the picture and his girlfriend, he wishes a hole in the ground would appear and swallow him whole. Of all the times to make her acquainted with the insensitive, prone to jump to the ( _wrong_ ) conclusions part of him, of course, it ought to be now, over a topic as delicate as her _dead_ parent. “I thought…”  
  
“ _Tsk_. I wouldn’t call that thinking, _moss-head_ ”.  
  
But Zoro ignores the love-cook and his even more annoying voice, focusing solely on Robin, on the wet lines tracing her face, so shiny he can tell precisely where each tear was born, and where it disappeared.  
  
“I had no idea…”, he pauses, then bites his own tongue. This isn’t about _him_. “Do you want to talk about it?”  
  
The dark-haired girl tries her hardest to fake a smile, and while the others notice it, they still respect her wish when she says, “I’d rather _not_ , actually”.  
  
Sanji resumes his walk back to the sofa, placing the rectangular box he was carrying on top of the coffee table, and Nami follows him suit, keeping her eyes trained on the pair even as she sits back down and starts assembling a four-people game of _Clue_.  
  
Left alone with his mistake, there’s a distinct blush on his face as he pretends their friends aren’t here, reaching out with one arm to pull her into a hug. He knows it isn’t much, but she seems like she needs it, because her fingers clamp around his t-shirt and she lets out a long sigh, hiding her cheek on the side of his neck. “Are you okay, though?”  
  
Her nod is a bit stiff, but convincing. “Yeah, I think I am. I just wasn’t expecting to stumble on this…”, she trails off, pointing a finger at the frame in his hands. “But I’m better now”, she adds, looking up at the sofa and smiling at the pair whispering quietly whilst sitting on it. “ _Thanks to Sanji_ ”.  
  
The particular inflexion on her voice suggests that she is not pleased with the way he just blamed the chef without even knowing what happened, and to be fair he is not proud of himself either.  
  
“I’m sorry about that, _too_ ”. He lowers his mouth to her ear, whispering, “You just looked so sad, I… I don’t know what got into me”.  
  
“I am not sad. Well, I mean, part of me will always be sad and miss her, but I think I actually needed this to happen”, she clarifies, blue eyes caressing the picture. “It was cathartic, in a way”.  
  
Now that he can focus a bit longer on the blonde woman, the resemblance strikes him. Sure, Nico Olvia was thirty-something years old when the picture was taken, and her skin is a shade tanner than her daughter’s, but they have the same eyes, in both shape and size, and the nose is almost identical, although Robin’s a bit smaller, and straighter.  
  
Whatever her biological father contributed, it’s very hard to pinpoint.  
  
Zoro thinks of a hundred different sentences he could say, but somehow he finds it that this is not the right time to ask her about it, partly because of their audience (Nami and Sanji pretend they’re not listening, but he knows they are following his every move) and partly because that kind of conversation has to be handled with care, and he doubts this is the right moment, especially after he has made such a fool out of himself.  
  
“Where do you want to put this?”  
  
“On the _b_ –bookshelves”. When she sounds about to cry again, he quickly guides her in front of the rows of books, where he then sets it down in plain sight, but Robin shakes her head, pointing at another section. “Put it there. Those were her favorite books”.  
  
The green-haired boy can’t recognize a single title to save his life, but he still reads them all out, respectfully. Some look very old, others as if they were printed just yesterday, and each tome is perfectly taken care of, without even as much of a wrinkle or time-stain on the covers.  
  
She plants a small kiss on his cheek, which he takes as a sign of her forgiveness, and the two make their way back to the couch, where they resume their previous seat.  
  
Nami eyes her thoughtfully for a moment before grinning up at the other girl with perhaps a bit more flair than the situation warrants. “Who’s ready to track down some murderers?”

* * *

It has been four days since Sengoku dropped the bomb on him, and Garp still can’t believe what he was told about the youngest of his boys. He has been observing Luffy intently, to the point Dadan started asking questions about it and he is running out of excuses to feed her, but it still sounds all so very paradoxical to him.  
  
Now that he is older, wiser and, as Dragon would put it, not a dastardly _piece of shit_ , now that he has educated himself, left behind the narrow vision of the world he used to share, the same one which compromised his relationship with his only son, now that his hands have learnt how to aid, comfort and support… well, if Dragon was very vocal about his _quirkier_ views of romance and sexuality back in the day and happy to flaunt his relationships, which at the time Garp had considered _questionable_ (but he knows better _now_ ), Luffy is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  
  
He is acting like his bubbly self, bouncing from one activity to the other without a care in the world. Nothing in his behavior suggests something has changed in his life.  
  
When Ace and then Sabo started dating in high schools, it wasn’t really a surprise, but Luffy?  
  
Luffy never expressed the desire to ever find love, not even in a distant future, as if he can’t really process the emotion, not in a romantic sense, always more interested in _adventure_ and the old legends about pirates hiding treasures all over the New World in the middle ages rather than pretending to be a groom for his best friend’s sister (although Perona had often preferred their old cat to pose as her husband, and Garp can’t say he ever blamed her).  
  
Middle school and then four out of five years of high school have gone by and there was never a mention of going out with someone, either boy or girl, he never even bothered to _read_ the cards that were attached to the chocolate girls sent him for Valentine’s Day every year.  
  
Sure, the _brat_ has more love in him than anybody else his grandfather has ever met, but it’s hard to imagine him as one of the leading characters in a romantic movie, not when he was so much happier those times he ended up playing the priest and marrying Zoro’s pink-haired sister to the late Lord Pawson.  
  
(Seriously, what’s with Dracule Mihawk and adopting neon-headed kids?  
  
Or does he dye their hair personally?)  
  
It would all perhaps be much easier to take in if the boy involved wasn’t the one Luffy wouldn’t stop talking about when he still attended Marineford Prep.  
  
_Trafalgar Law_.  
  
Garp remembers a young, heartbroken, tear-faced Luffy swearing that he wasn’t the one who stole the golden trinket from the principal’s office, that he doesn’t know how it ended up in his backpack, that he’s sorry his grandfather is so disappointed in him, but once they get his best friend’s testimony they will realize that he had nothing to do with the theft.  
  
He remembers even better the cry he produced when Trafalgar Law turned his back on him, and the end of their friendship had made him sadder than even Dragon (or that red-haired _bastard_ , Shanks) missing one of his birthdays could. It took weeks for Luffy to start recovering from it, and he only did when he started bonding with a green-haired kid from his new school.  
  
(A child with short orange hair and quite a feisty temper then started hanging out with them, too, and the rest is history.)  
  
He supposes the reason he hated Zoro on first sight is his similarity to Law, although even Garp has to admit that the former has never wavered in his loyalty to his grandson.  
  
A knock on the door startles the man, who clears his throat and busies himself with the papers on his desk as a cheerful voice pipes up. “ _Gramps_ , are you home?”  
  
The door slides open before he can remind Luffy for the umpteenth time that he should wait for the person inside the room to reply before he invites himself in, but the reproach dies on his tongue as he notices the bright grin on his lips, or the way he can barely control his impulse to bounce on his feet as he stands. What is he so happy about?  
  
“Did you need something, kid?”  
  
“Not really, no. Just wanted to ask if I can ask Hachi to drop me at a friend’s house? I’m already late”.  
  
The electric blue hoodie he wears is too big for him, and too long for his height, it makes him look even more of a child as he stares pleadingly at him.  
  
“Sure, no problem”, Garp exhales. “Which friend?”  
  
He hopes it’s Nami. Out of all of them, he likes that girl the most. She has ambition.  
  
The blush that creeps up Luffy’s neck, however, shatters the thought.  
  
“It’s… _Law_ ”, the boy hesitates, rubbing a hand over his wild mane of dark hair. Staring at his shoes, he adds, “We are ordering pizzas and playing videogames”.  
  
“Law as in… Trafalgar Law?”  
  
“ _Yup_. So, I’ll go look for Hachi now”.  
  
Luffy has one foot already half the door as Garp digests the information, but then he turns around sharply, tilting his head to one side as he leans on the doorframe. “ _Oi_ , _gramps_?”  
  
“ _Yeah_?”  
  
The former vice-Admiral is not sure what he expected, maybe some sort of chaotic update on his sentimental life, but he feels a bit disappointed when his grandson just gestures for the leather wallet sitting on his desk. “Can I have some money for those pizzas?”   
  
With his record, though, it’s not surprising if he is not the first person, or even the second, Luffy goes to if he wishes to discuss his relationship with this boy.  
  
He picks up the wallet, hands him a couple hundred belies and watches him leave in his usual goofball of energy as a sad smile stretches across the old man’s lips.  
  
For a moment, Garp almost fetches his phone and dials Dragon’s number.  
  
_But it’s too late for that bond, isn’t it_?

* * *

Law’s house is very pretty, he supposes, albeit quite minimalist – having not met Corazon, he doesn’t know that the spare furnishing is more of a safety precaution rather than an aesthetic choice. But it also feels exceptionally cold, as if it’s barely inhabited.  
  
Luffy sits on the sofa next to the other teen, twin joysticks in their hands as they delve into a co-op adventure whose story is still very obscure (it’s not his fault that Law decided to kiss him just as the main characters and their beef with the status quo were established).  
  
Slashing the different creatures is funny, though, and he is finally getting a hold of how to best exploit the magical powers this universe grants him. Law snorted when he picked up the man with stretchable, rubber-like limbs, and he retaliated as Law settled for the wizard with the power to heal his teammates, mocking the predictability of his choice, but forty-five minutes into the story, empty pizza boxes piled neatly on top of the coffee table because apparently the other can’t stand a messy environment, they both have to admit that they are a winning combo, because they are progressing more quickly than they should despite the game being set on “hard”.  
  
“ _Oi_ , any idea where that key we need might be?”  
  
Law’s character turns around in the screen, waving his torch before he casually puts it back into his pocket. They have been searching for a way out of this dungeon for quite some time now, and he is growing impatient.  
  
“Shouldn’t we have to kill some kind of boss before we can get it, though?”  
  
“ _Hn_. Good point. We should go back to the entrance and retrace our steps–”.  
  
“Law, I think I’ve found something!”, Luffy cries out, excitedly. “ _Holy shit_. What is that thing?”  
  
It takes their combined efforts and more than one healing spell on Law’s part, but in little over ten minutes they take care of the strange hybrid between a werewolf and a siren, loot the hell out of the dungeon and get some major upgrades for their equipment. All and all, a bountiful experience.  
  
Luffy’s belly grumbles as the other teen pauses the game, setting down the joystick and stretching his arms languidly above his head.  
  
“You’re such a bottomless pit”, Law chuckles, then stands up and disappears into the kitchen without a further word. He returns a minute later, resuming his position on the sofa next to him before he places a chocolate bar in his lap. “It’s the closest thing I have to dessert”.  
  
The Straw-Hats’ captain stares incredulously at the treat, eyes caressing the logo of his over a decade old favorite brand of chocolate.  
  
Is this a coincidence? _Or he remembers_?  
  
As he keeps looking down with dumbfounded expression rather than unwrap the chocolate and dig into it, Law grows increasingly uncomfortable.  
  
He thought…  
  
“Wait, you liked that, right?”

* * *

The smile Luffy shows him next is one of the prettiest things he has ever seen, so much so that it’s hard to resist the impulse to carve his heart out and hand it to him, and Law takes a mental note to keep his house stocked with plenty of sweets and whatever else the boy likes.  
  
Loads of meat, then.  
  
Five days after Halloween, Law still doesn’t know what he is doing, letting this weird, addictive attraction for Luffy linger, he can practically feel it wrapping its tentacles all over him, and yet he does nothing to stop it – when it’s just the two of them, Law finds it that it’s a bit easier to breathe.  
  
Feelings are not something he plans to catch, but he likes to bask in the love and warmth the teen sitting next to him seems to radiate at all times and, quite frankly, he has always been the selfish type – he doesn’t say things as they aren’t, but neither he tells them as they are.  
  
It’s a delicate balance, the product of keeping at the outskirts of his own life, the one thing he believes in. Most people won’t hurt you until they find out they can.  
  
Yet his thoughts taste bitter, because Luffy isn’t the one who does the hurting, he’s the one who offers you his hand and kicks the ass of the person who made you suffer.  
  
(Maybe, just maybe, he should have placed his trust here all along.)  
  
“ _Yeah_ , it’s my favorite”.   
  
Luffy draws an excited breath, unwrapping the paper and biting a huge chunk of the chocolate directly from the bar. With a satisfied sigh, he starts munching on his snack, his mouth open as his jaw and teeth work on the now squishy substance.  
  
Law would tell _anybody_ else (yes, even Bepo) to shut their damn trap and act like a civil human being, but he finds that it’s somehow comforting when it comes from him, because Luffy is truly in his element only when he’s surrounded by either of two things, or both, his friends and… well, _food_. There are more interesting things he could do with his tongue, though.   
  
“ _Chu-yu-waff-‘ome_?”  
  
“ _Ah_?”  
  
Re-wrapping the chocolate bar, Luffy turns around, repeating, “Do you want some?”  
  
The other shakes his head. “No, _thank_ –”, he stops halfway, eyes too trained in the pursuit of details not to notice the drop of chocolate on his chin. Despite Law’s fixation for hygiene, it looks appealing and sultry as it sits below his lower lip.  
  
A tattooed finger wipes away the concoction, and he doesn’t hesitate to plop the digit inside his mouth and lick it away. Were this someone more experienced, the sexual overtures of his gesture probably wouldn’t go unanswered. Alas, Luffy just looks funnily at him, as if trying to decipher both Law’s behavior and his own response to it and coming off it empty-handed.   
  
“ _Hn_. Too sweet”.  
  
“What’s wrong with _sweet_? I mean, I prefer my snacks salty, too, but sweets are fine…”  
  
The other shows him a wry smile, reaching up with his hand once more to run a cold fingertip down one side of his face, eyeing him so intensely that it looks as if his gaze is out of focus. “I guess sweets are fine”, he parrots, although he isn’t referring to _food_. “There are some honorable mentions, at the very least”.  
  
“Right? Have you ever tried the Baratie’s cranberry cake? If you don’t want to take my word for it, ask Zoro. He barely ever eats something that’s _not sour_ , but even he goes crazy for that cake…”  
  
Once again, Luffy seems completely oblivious to his intentions. He gestures passionately, with a dreamlike expression, as if just by mentioning the dessert he can feel its taste in his mouth.  
  
“No, I don’t think so”. Their faces are very close now, and the teen’s warm breath tickles as it brushes upon Law’s goatee. “But that’s not what I meant”.  
  
His eyes convey more than words, in this case, ever could. Luffy tilts his head to the side, scrutinizing him thoughtfully, and then erupts in his overwhelming grin before his eyelids flutter shut, long, silken eyelashes caressing the tops of his cheeks, and he puckers his lips, leaning forward.  
  
Maybe he’s not that oblivious, _uh_?   
  
The chuckle propelling its way out of Law’s mouth is a foreign, distant sound, something he hasn’t heard in an excruciatingly long time; he can’t recognize the hint of genuine amusement it contains, or the odd vibration it sparks, not unlike a jolt of electricity, in his chest.  
  
The distance between them is minimal, all it takes is a mere stretch of his neck, but he still takes the time to observe Luffy’s still face, to burn it indelibly in his brain.  
  
(As much as Basil might have liked him, perhaps even something more, although he never really paid much attention to his thoughts and feelings, he never put himself in his hands with such reckless, unbridled trust – not that he should have, or that Luffy should do it now.  
  
His hands are made to taint, to ruin, to break.)  
  
Needy fingers fist his short hair as soft, chocolate-flavored lips close on his with urgency, his entire upper body yanked forward as Luffy lets his back fall on the couch, dragging him along.  
  
Whatever angsty thought he was entertaining moments before, it is gone now, pushed to the back of his mind. A lean, yet sturdy body pressed up against his, hands marveling as they trace the outline of his six pack, Law finds it that, _yes_ , indeed, as his tongue curls around the boy’s, it is quite easy to forget ( _murder_ ) his troubles in a kiss like this.  
  
A throaty sigh tumbles out of his lips as Luffy sneaks both arms around his waist, pulling him even closer to the impossible warmth he radiates. Some part of Law melts in his embrace, but another, he notices with a muffled groan, stiffens and pokes his lover’s navel.  
  
_Ok_ , _maybe it’s time to backtrack a little_.  
  
They haven’t talked about it, but Law is entirely too clever not to notice that this whole making out thing is very new for the other.  
  
Even though they have only just recently reconnected, Monkey D. Luffy is the one person whom perhaps is discussed more than anybody else in New Marineford, so even someone as repulsed by gossip as him has been kept up to date over the years, whether he wanted it or not.  
  
What seems to have always baffled more people than necessary, although Law never gave much thought to it, is the fact that Luffy doesn’t date. Never did. Not girls. Not boys.  
  
Then, as further proof, he also kisses with the same eagerness of someone who has just found out what body-on-body friction is all about, both hungry and hesitant.  
  
He never seems to know what to do with his hands, as if unsure of his impulse to put them somewhere, but, truthfully, Law doesn’t mind taking things slow, because he, too, finds himself in the face of unprecedented reactions to familiar stimuli.  
  
Besides, from the very first time he kissed Luffy, it was never about _sex_ , not in the way he always partook in it, as a mean to scrape an ounce of fleeting, physical pleasure and get by a little longer whilst not attending to the wounds in his psyche.  
  
No. It was always about the _sunshine_ this boy puts in everything he does.  
  
About the inherent comfort his mere presence infallibly provides.  
  
(Even then, back when Law was in denial.  
  
_How could he care for someone so deeply after what had happened to Lami_?  
  
He just couldn’t. _~~Can’t~~_.)  
  
Pulling away from the kiss, he takes in the sight of Luffy’s puffed cheeks as he tries to catch his breath, and the twinkle in his dark eyes that usually announces an uncomfortable question.  
  
But Luffy never gets the chance to voice his thoughts. Someone’s at the door.  
  
Law sighs in relief.  
  
Saved by the bell. _But was he_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not having the best time of my life rn, so barely any notes this time, but I thought this story was due an update. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! & happy birthday, Sanji! 💖


End file.
